


How Greed accidentally adopts a bunch of future heroes

by Livesinbooks



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Asexual Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Bisexual Disaster Kaminari Denki, Blind Roy Mustang, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Claustrophobic Bakugou Katsuki, Crossover, Dabi is Todoroki Touya, Dadzawa, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Greed adopts a bunch of kids, Greed's character will develop so he may seem ooc eventually, Hard of Hearing Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Jean Havoc in a wheelchair, M/M, Mineta Minoru is Expelled from U.A. High School, Minor Character Death, My Hero Academia AU, Nonbinary Kaminari Denki, Nonbinary Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Panic Attacks, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Rated for language and violence, Slow Burn, Spoiler Warnings and TWs and additional tags in the notes before each chapter, They all need hugs, Trauma, and therapy, lots of swearing thanks to Bakugou Katsuki and Greed, mha spoilers for anime and later some manga spoilers, most of them are lgbt+, parental Greed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 57
Words: 141,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25935904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livesinbooks/pseuds/Livesinbooks
Summary: Greed, quirk: Ultimate Shield. He can encase himself fully in a carbon-based protective shield that makes him invincible to most weapons and also gives him claws for attacking. He heals quickly, too.His father wants world domination, but Greed is done living in his shadow and helping him. He’s going to rule the world himself and show his old man that he’s better than him. - At least that's the plan, until he stumbles over a lonely teenager and accidentally adopts him. And then more kids follow.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist), Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist), Bakugou Katsuki & Edward Elric, Bakugou Katsuki & Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist), Bakugou Katsuki & Ling Yao & Kaminari Denki & Monoma Neito, Bakugou Katsuki/Kaminari Denki/Sero Hanta, Class 1-A (My Hero Academia) & Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist), Edward Elric & Greed, Edward Elric/Ling Yao, Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist) & League of Villains (My Hero Academia), Eri (My Hero Academia) & Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist), Greed & Ling Yao, Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist) & Kaminari Denki, Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist) & Monoma Neito, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Team Mustang & Todoroki Shouto
Comments: 890
Kudos: 450
Collections: MyHeroAacademia14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [guardiansofthefantasy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardiansofthefantasy/gifts).



> the bnha/fmab crossover nobody asked for! This was supposed to be a fluffy crack chat fic crossover thing but Lee once again changed my mind and it became a full length chaptered serious fic and honestly i'm loving it  
> I wanted to wait with uploading this until it's all written, but I crave validation so I decided to upload chapter 1 already
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: implied violence/abuse between siblings
> 
> (This fic starts before the beginning of year 1, this chapter probably takes place in February)

_Greed, quirk: Ultimate Shield. He can encase himself fully in a carbon-based protective shield that makes him invincible to most weapons and also gives him claws for attacking. He heals quickly, too._

Greed is walking through the streets, hands in his pockets, unsure where to go. Maybe he should have thought about that before leaving his family’s latest hideout, but he’d just gotten too sick of hearing his father talk about world domination and his siblings cheer him on like mindless losers. (Except for Envy… Maybe he should have brought Envy along… Well, now it was too late anyways.)  
The backpack on his back bounces with each step and he thinks about his few possessions with shame. Some money he swiped from his father, a change of clothes, his phone and some toiletries. He has always thought that he deserves more, a better life, more money, friends, lovers. Fitting for his name, he wants everything.

He and Envy have a theory about their father, since none of the kids know who their mother is, they have weird names, and their characteristics and personalities kind of fit their names. Their father definitely did some experimenting on them as children, but they don’t know what, and their other siblings don’t seem to care.

But none of that matters anymore, Greed is on his own now. His father wants world domination or whatever, but he is done living in his shadow and helping him. He’s going to rule the world himself and show his old man that he’s better than him.  
So, where to start? Greed looks around the street. It’s evening, but the city lights are illuminating the world as if the sun is shining. There are people walking around, talking, laughing, some drunk, some just having a good time, some maybe going to their nightshift, some coming home from theirs.  
He enjoys the normalcy of walking through the streets like an ordinary person, and is - not for the first time - glad, that when he occasionally helped his father, he fully used his shield, covering his face. He’s not a wanted villain, he’s just a civilian here. It’s refreshing.  
After a while he gets to a more crowded street and decides that he’s not in the mood to push through crowds, and turns into a darker alley. His plan right now is just to walk until he has an idea of what to do. He needs a place to stay and then to come up with a way to rule the world.

His thoughts are interrupted, when he almost stumbles over a figure on the floor. At first Greed is sure that it’s a drunk person passed out, but then his eyes adjust more to the light and he realises that it’s a teenager who can’t be much younger than his baby brother.  
He hesitates even though he knows he should just keep walking. This kid is none of his business. Maybe he stole his parents’ liquor and got drunk and now it’s his own fault for being passed out in a dark alley.  
But… The longer he stares at the slumped body, the more he sees Envy, and the guilt about leaving him behind starts suffocating him.  
“Fine,” he snaps to himself and kneels down. He’ll make sure this kid is okay and then stop being weak.

Carefully, he shakes the teen by the shoulder and the boy groans. So he’s not dead, that’s good.  
“Hey,” Greed growls more than speaks. “Can you sit up? Did someone attack you?”  
He gets quiet mumbling in return and sighs, leaning closer.  
“What was that?”  
“Hungry.”

Blinking, he leans back on his heels and stares at the kid. Hungry? He’s passed out from hunger? Maybe it’s his quirk or something, or he’s homeless and hasn’t eaten in days. With a suffering sigh, Greed gets up.  
“I’ll get you something to eat. Just… Don’t move.”

He hurries, slightly worried that someone less friendly than him will find the kid (why does he care? That’s not Envy in that alley! Envy is back home, all alone with their crazy family!).  
Instead of using the little money he has, he walks past a food cart and swipes a burger from the counter while the person that ordered it is looking for money in their purse and the cart owner is busy making more food. Without looking back, he hurries to the alley again.

With another sigh, he leans down and helps the kid sit propped up against the wall and hands him the burger. The boy devours it at such speed Greed briefly worries that he’ll bite off his fingers too. The food is gone in a matter of seconds and the teen groans.  
“Thank you, you saved me.”  
That sounds like a hero thing to do, so he scoffs and crosses his arms, starting to turn around.  
“So you’re alive again, then I’ll go.”  
“Wait!” There’s desperation in the kid’s voice and Greed hates himself for having empathy. He looks at him again frowning.  
“What? I already gave you food.”  
Studying the kid more closely, he sees a colourful bruise peeking out from under his shirt, and he frowns some more.  
“Why are you passed out in an alley? How old are you even?”  
“I’m fifteen.”

He raises an eyebrow and the kid sighs.  
“My brothers were chasing me…”  
After uncrossing his arms, Greed points at the bruise.  
“They give you that?”  
The kid nods and he rubs his face.  
“Where do you live?”  
“Half an hour from here…”

Rubbing his face a second time, Greed shakes his head.  
“You’re a soft idiot, you won’t rule the world like that.”  
“What?”  
“Get up, I’m walking you home, it’s getting dark, there could be bad people out tonight.”  
He grins, showing his teeth, but the kid seems unfazed. Something about his empty eyes reminds him of his own face in the mirror and he bites his lip, grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet.  
“What’s your name? I’m Ling.”  
“Greed.”  
“Interesting name.”  
“Just walk, I don’t have all night.”

Gladly, Ling obeys and starts walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really hope people will read this and like it because I'm having a lot of fun writing this  
> More tags and especially relationship tags will be added once more characters show up!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for mentioned violence/abuse between siblings  
> TW for lots of swearing, here and in the future chapters

After leaving the kid at the gates of his truly massive house - of course he had to stumble upon a rich kid, at least he didn’t waste money on him - Greed keeps walking until long into the night. Then he finds an empty looking building and walks inside, seeing that some walls are broken, and that there’s definitely nobody living here anymore because it does not look safe in the slightest.  
The perfect place to spend the night then.

Greed settles in a dusty bedroom on the second floor (he wouldn’t be as easily discovered as on the first, but if he falls he can still survive it with his healing).  
The bed smells bad as he lies down, but he ignores it and stares at the ceiling, wondering what Envy is doing right now. Should he call him? No, then his father might find him. Greed has inside info on him, if he wanted, he could probably bring him down. He has no intention of doing so of course, it’d be way too much effort, but he could. So his father will probably not take any risks, and try to kill him.  
It’s one of the reasons he didn’t bring Envy along. It would’ve put his baby brother in danger, and himself too, it’s easier to hide alone. The second reason is that he can never be fully sure of Envy’s loyalty. Sure, he hates their family just as much as Greed does, but Envy is also desperate to make their father proud. He might have ratted Greed out to gain his approval.

Even though the guilt is making it hard to breathe, it’s better this way. He’s better off alone.

-

The next few days he sleeps in the dirty broken building, then decides to work a small job to at least afford a better apartment. It’s a job in a convenience store, organising storage and carrying shit around, but it pays well enough, and while working, he can start his plan. (Stealing everything right now would only bring negative attention to him and he doesn’t need that before he can start his rise to power.)  
He can’t rule the world on his own, or at least he can’t get there on his own, so he should probably find someone to help him, someone who’s not associated with any other villain organisations, someone who doesn’t know him and his family. So, he decides to keep his eyes open for anyone who could fill that position.

-

Thanks to his job, he now lives in a crappy, cramped apartment with one small bedroom, a tiny bathroom and a kitchen with some additional living room space. It’s better than the broken building he’d been in before, and also better than the last family hideout. Still, he longs for a big house and luxury.  
He’ll have to be patient for a little longer.

-

It’s spring, so the weather is getting warmer, and Greed enjoys walking around outside on his free days, contemplating his plans. Today is one of those and he sits down on a park bench, tilting his head up, eyes closed, so the sun is warming his face.  
After a while, he feels eyes on him and tries to look around secretly, but he can’t see anybody who might be watching him.  
When he makes his way back home, he’s sure he’s being followed, so Greed walks slower and turns into an alley. Quickly, with speed trained into him for years, he fully activates his shield and hops onto the wall, holding on with his claws.

A figure rounds the corner moments after, sticking to the shadows, but they stop when they can’t see him anywhere. Greed growls and drops to the floor, keeping his shield up and pinning the person to the wall.  
There’s a gasp that sounds familiar and then he recognises the face and steps back from the kid, dropping his shield.  
“What the fuck are you doing here and why are you following me?”  
“Oh, Greed! Cool quirk!”  
“Answer the question, brat!”  
Ling puffs out his cheeks and pulls the corners of his lips down in an impressive pout.  
“I followed you because I never thanked you properly for helping me!”  
He pulls out a bunch of bills and holds them out.  
“For the food you gave me.”  
Greed snorts.  
“Even if I didn’t steal that that would be way too much for a burger.”

He expects the kid to be surprised or upset by the thought of having eaten stolen food, or because now he knows Greed isn’t a good guy, but Ling just grins and shrugs.  
“Just take it. My father has too much anyways.”  
Well, if it hurts a rich person, he can’t say no. So, he takes the money and puts it into his pocket. He could buy himself a new phone with this and his savings, he needs a new one so he can be sure his father isn’t somehow able to track him.  
“You can go then, I took your money.”  
“But I wanna hang out!”  
“Don’t you have any friends?”  
“I have my best friend Lan Fan.”  
“Then go talk to them.”  
“She doesn’t live nearby.”  
“I don’t give a single fuck, just stop bothering me.”

Thinking he got his point across pretty well, Greed spins around and starts walking again, back towards his apartment.  
He groans when he feels Ling following him.  
“Leave me alone,” he hisses, not wanting to cause a scene now that they’re out of the alley and surrounded by people.  
Ling just ignores him and falls into step with him.  
“Just let me hang out with you.”  
“I’m ten years older than you.”  
“So what? We can still be friends!”  
“I don’t do friends.”

Ling’s answering smile carries a challenge. Oh hell no.

-

Somehow Ling got Greed to let him into his apartment. He’s honestly not quite sure how that happened, but the kid is now sitting on the dusty couch, grinning at him.  
“Okay, so what do you do for a living? Are you a pro hero?”  
“Fuck no.”  
Greed is leaning against the front door, watching the boy warily.  
“So what do you work as?” he keeps pushing. Greed kind of wants to kill him.  
But he really can’t have the blood of some rich kid on his hands, so he forces himself to breathe in and out a few times, then he answers.  
“I work at a convenience store.”  
“Oh, sounds fun.”  
“It really isn’t.”

Ling ignores him and looks around the place. It’s pretty bare, there are no pictures, no plants, no decoration.  
“You should get some bright curtains, they’d make this place nicer.”  
“Maybe I like it like this,” Greed snaps and the kid shrugs.  
“Okay.”

A few moments of silence follow, and he almost enjoys them, if it weren’t for the curious eyes of the teen in his living room/kitchen.  
“I’m hungry, what are you having for dinner?”  
“It’s four in the afternoon.”  
“So? I’m starving. Do you want me to pass out again?”  
Rubbing his forehead tiredly, he walks to his fridge and takes out leftovers from the takeout he had two days ago.  
Ling makes a disgusted face at the smell.  
“Take it or go home and eat there.”  
There’s strong discomfort on the kid’s face, and Greed frowns as Ling gets up and takes the takeout box and chopsticks he hands him.  
With his facial expression suggesting that Ling would rather be eating a shoe right now, he takes a bite and chews for what feels like forever.  
He’s seen the kid eat when he’s hungry, but this is very different. Ling doesn’t want to eat this, but he’s still doing it because the other option Greed gave him is going home.  
Well, he knows about a shitty home life, so he - internally cursing his own softness again - takes pity on the boy and takes the box away from him.

Black eyes snap up to meet red ones and the kid turns very pale.  
“I was eating that!”  
“I’m not sending you home just yet.”  
The relief that floods Ling as he hears those words is tangible and Greed swallows a sour taste at the back of his throat.  
“I’ll order you something new when you tell me why you don’t want to go home.”

They order pizza and Greed pays with part of the money Ling gave him. While they’re eating, the kid talks about his family. Apparently he has a whole bunch of siblings (thirteen that he knows of), older and younger, and there’s this intense rivalry going on because their father decided to only let one of them inherit everything he owns after his death.  
So the younger siblings are being bullied pretty badly because the older ones want to show strength and dominance to be worthy heirs, and Ling is trying to protect them, but they’re nasty little brats and go after him too when he’s not looking to show they’re strong and capable too, so he’s being used as a punching bag most of the time.

“And I get it, the younger ones also want a chance, and they can’t really get to the oldest ones, so they target me, but I’m always trying to help them, so it still kind of sucks.”  
Ling grabs another pizza slice, looking happy to have good food, but there’s a sadness in his eyes that shouldn’t be there, not at his age.  
Greed sighs and rubs his face.  
“You can stay here a bit longer, but you have to go home to sleep.”  
Ling nods and smiles around the pizza crust of the slice he practically inhaled.  
“Thanks!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm glad there's some people interested in this weird crossover :D  
> You're in for a wild ride


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: injuries from abusive siblings, cursing  
> tags:  
> Big Brother Greed  
> Ling Yao needs a hug
> 
> not sure if i'm fully happy with this chapter tbh, but their relationship is progressing!  
> Once again a reminder that this is platonic Greed & Ling friendship and they will NOT end up romantically in any way, I don't ship Greedling and I won't write it, Greed is 26 in this and Ling is 16!!  
> Thought I'd mention that beforehand.

Ling starts hanging out at Greed’s place almost every day in the evening after Greed comes home from work, and after two weeks, he gives Ling a key so he can spend the whole day there even when Greed is gone.  
The kid tells him about starting at Shiketsu High School in a few weeks and that he doesn’t like it because all his older siblings go there or went there too, and his father graduated from it.  
“I’d much rather go to UA, but it’s too far away and father wouldn’t pay for it.”  
Greed shrugs.  
“You’re getting hero training no matter what school you go to.”  
The kid chews on one of the apples Greed brought home and nods.  
“I know, but still…”  
Sighing, Greed pats his arm.  
“I understand, kid.”

After eating, they sit on the couch, each tapping on their phone (Greed finally bought a new one, Ling had stolen some more money from his father for it).  
It’s getting late, and eventually Greed gets up, and he walks Ling home.

Back at his apartment, he takes a shower, cleans up the kitchen and then goes to bed. He’s almost asleep when there’s loud knocking on his door.  
Groaning, Greed gets up and drags his feet over the floor to open.  
Ling is standing there and at first he thinks he maybe forgot something, but then his brain wakes up and he realises that the kid is crying. It shocks him because even though there’s usually a whirl of emotions in the boy’s eyes, he’s mostly smiling and grinning.  
So to see him full on sobbing and not even trying to hide it behind a fake smile is startling to say the least.  
His eyes move away from the crying eyes to inspect the rest of Ling’s face and he sees that it’s pretty badly bruised. So some of his siblings caught him before he made it to his room.

Greed reaches out and takes Ling’s arms, pulling him into the apartment.  
“Sit on the couch,” he says, trying to make his voice sound soft so he doesn’t startle him. It probably sounds very weird, but the kid obeys and Greed rubs his face tiredly and then walks into the bathroom to get his first aid kit and a wet cloth. Why did he get emotionally attached to that brat again?

Back in the living area, he kneels down in front of the couch and gently wipes the bruises on his face clean in case the skin broke somewhere and dirt got in.  
“Where else did they hurt you?”

The answer is: everywhere.  
The kid’s whole body is covered in bruises and even some scratches. Ling sits on the couch in his underwear avoiding his eyes while Greed wipes the cloth carefully over injured skin and puts band-aids on the parts where it’s bleeding.  
“Can I stay here tonight?” the kid asks eventually, voice more timid than Greed has ever heard him.  
“Of course, brat,” he snaps. “There’s no fucking way I’m sending you back to that place like this.”  
He doesn’t want him to ever have to go back, but that’s a stupid thought. How would Greed even raise a teen on his own? He’s a fucking disaster himself. But for tonight he can offer him a safe space.  
“I’ll give you some of my clothes, wait here.”

A few minutes later, Ling is dressed in sweatpants and a sweater, both too big on him because even though he’s not much shorter than Greed, he’s way thinner despite the amount of food he’s eating.  
He lies down on the couch and Greed huffs.  
“Forget it, you’re taking my bed, the couch will only make those bruises of yours worse.”  
Not waiting for Ling to protest, he pulls him to his feet and to the bedroom.  
As he makes sure the blanket is properly covering Ling, it reminds him of when Envy was young, and his heart stings with the by now familiar feeling of guilt and regret.  
“If anything’s wrong, I’m on the couch.”  
His chest aches as the kid nods and closes his eyes. He looks even younger like this.  
Not able to stop himself, seeing too much of a little brother he has to protect in him, he strokes over Ling’s hair and takes out his hair tie, putting it onto the bedside table.  
“Goodnight, brat,” Greed murmurs and leaves the door open a bit.  
Well, this was not how he expected today to end…  
The couch is uncomfortable, so he lies awake for a long time, thinking about how he can help Ling.

\--

The next morning, Greed wakes up early, and he feels like he slept a total of one hour. It’s fine though because when he looks into the bedroom, Ling is still peacefully sleeping, so he has time to make breakfast.  
Because of the kid being over so much and being always hungry, his kitchen is pretty well stocked, so he boils some rice and steams some vegetables.  
The door creaks just as he’s setting the table and he smirks.  
“I smell food. Are you cooking?” Ling sounds surprised even though Greed had made food like this before.  
“Stop pretending to be shocked and sit down. How are your bruises?”  
He looks at the kid and sighs when he sees that his beat-up face has changed colour over night.  
“Better. Thanks for yesterday.”  
Ling looks flustered and Greed grins.  
“You owe me, brat.”

Then he puts their breakfast onto the table and they eat in comfortable silence.

Before going to work, Greed looks at Ling’s bruises again, makes sure he’s comfortable on the couch for the day with a cup of tea and some snacks, and ruffles his hair again.  
Ling swats at his hand and pouts.  
“You’re messing up my ponytail!”  
“It’s already messed up.”  
“Shut up!”  
“Brat. Don’t destroy my place until I’m back.”  
Ling shows him a toothy grin and it soothes some of Greed’s worries. “No promises.”  
“Little fucker.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the feedback so far! Don't worry, soon some mha characters will finally show up!


	4. Chapter 4

_Ling Yao, quirk: Merging. He can merge himself with someone he has an emotional bond with and combine their abilities, his being great close combat skills and a good judgement of people’s intentions, and use the other person’s quirk. He controls the merged body by default since even merged it looks like him, but he can give the control over to the other person if he wants to._

Ling starts school and for a while he seems to be doing great and shows up less at Greed’s place, giving him time to start thinking about his plan again. His plan to rule the world… Be a villain… Somehow, it seems a lot less appealing now and he knows it’s Ling’s fault for being a hero at heart and influencing him with his goodness.  
But he’s not completely giving up the plan. It’s just being put on hold for the time being. He has a kid to watch out for.

It takes a week for things to get bad again, and Ling stays over at Greed’s place more often until one day, he shows up with a packed suitcase and a hopeful expression and Greed just sighs and lets him inside.  
So that’s how they end up living together fully. With thirteen other children in the house, Ling says his father won’t notice, and Greed accepts that. It’s not that much of a change anyways. He buys the kid a sleeping bag and some pillows to make the couch a bit more comfortable.

It’s… nice, to have a permanent roommate. Greed helps him with homework when he’s struggling, and in return Ling teaches him some recipes he picked up on at home.  
Greed occasionally feels guilty because it seems like he replaced Envy… But it’s been a while, and Envy hadn’t tried to find him, so he should be fine.  
Ling needs a friend, and he’s gonna be one for him - reluctantly so, because this was not the plan. It seems like Ling won the little challenge he gave himself.

\--

“Hey kid, what’s your quirk anyways?” Greed asks one evening when they’re lounging on the couch, each absorbed in their own thoughts.  
“Merging. I can merge with someone I have an emotional bond with and combine our skills.”  
“Can you use their quirk too then?”  
“Yes, but I don’t know to what extent. It’s still my body so I might not be able to handle every quirk.”  
“I see.”  
Ling grins and Greed huffs.  
“What is it?”  
“Can we ever merge? I want to see what it’s like to be invincible.”  
“No thank you. We don’t have an emotional bond anyways.”  
The grin turns into a pout, but Greed ignores him.

\--

Another week after Ling moved in, they take the train to Tokyo on Friday to go to a mall there that Ling really wants to visit for whatever reason.  
It’s loud and crowded, but the kid seems to have fun, so he trudges along scowling, making sure not to lose sight of him.  
It’s pretty uneventful. They go into some shops, he buys Ling food, Ling buys him a shirt with a cat on it and he rolls his eyes but takes it, chastising him for spending the little money he has on stuff like that.  
They’re about to head back to the train station, when someone runs into Ling and spills their drink on him.  
Greed clenches his fist, ready to beat up whoever that was, but it’s just a kid around Ling’s age, and the boy is now apologising over and over again, looking startled.  
Ling waves it off.  
“It’s alright, don’t worry about it!”  
He’s smiling his genuine smile, the one that makes his eyes squint.  
“I should’ve paid more attention.”  
“It’s really alright. Do you want a new drink? My brother can buy you one.”

Greed’s brain does one of those screeching freeze frames that movies sometimes have, hearing Ling call him his brother. He doesn’t even protest the offer, and the blond kid shrugs.  
“If you’re sure? Should I buy you a clean shirt?”  
“No it’s okay, I’ll wear the one we bought earlier.”  
And because he’s Ling, the brat changes shirts right there in the middle of the mall.  
“Don’t do that, who knows what kind of perverts are here to see you,” Greed snaps, but Ling just shrugs and puts his milkshake soaked shirt into the now empty plastic bag.  
“Come on, Greed, we have to buy my new friend a new milkshake!”  
“I didn’t agree to this.”  
“Come on, don’t be like that.”

He sighs deeply and looks at the blond kid again. He’s twitchy, like he’s buzzing with anxiety or too much energy or both. He takes pity on him and nods.  
“Fine, let’s go.”  
Ling beams and links arms with the other kid.  
“I’m Ling Yao, that’s my brother Greed.”  
“I’m Denki Kaminari. Thank you for being so nice, Yao-san.”

Greed blinks.  
“That’s not my last name. I don’t have one. Just call me Greed. No honorifics.”  
“Oh… Okay?”  
The kid sounds confused but doesn’t ask, and Greed appreciates that.  
They buy him a new chocolate milkshake, and Ling gets one too. Greed hesitates before choosing a strawberry one because they’re already here anyways.  
After that, they sit on one of the benches and Ling starts babbling. It turns into a two-sided conversation eventually and Greed realises that the Kaminari kid has an equally big and loud mouth as Ling. Those two are made to be friends.

And friends they are an hour later. They exchange phone numbers and addresses and Ling makes Kaminari promise to come visit some time. Greed isn’t even being asked, not that he minds. Ling lives with him now so it’s both their place.

Later on the train, Ling is smiling, and Greed has to hide his own smile.  
“Now I have three friends.”  
“Three? Did you make a friend at school you didn’t tell me about?”  
The way the kid’s face and ears turn red makes Greed smirk and lean towards him.  
“Oh, I’m interested now. Tell me about that _friend_ of yours.”  
“He’s just a friend!”  
Greed beams.  
“Oh really? Your face is saying something else. What’s his name?”  
“Edward Elric… He moved here with his family from America.”  
“Edward Elric, huh? He in your class?”  
“Yes…”  
“And you like him?”  
Ling splutters and coughs, obviously embarrassed.  
Greed has the time of his life teasing him with his crush.  
“You should bring him over some time so I can give him the Talk.”  
“We’re just friends!”

Laughing, Greed nudges him.  
“I’m just messing with you, brat. Bring him over anyways, I want to know this friend of yours that’s not your distant cousin Lan Fan.”  
“You never met her.”  
“I doubt she exists.”  
“Hey! She does exist! I just don’t see her much anymore…”  
“Of course, kid, of course.”  
“Oh fuck off.”  
Greed flips him off smirking and then looks at his phone for the rest of the train ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally a UA kid!  
> You can't tell me Ling and Denki wouldn't be amazing friends if they were in the same universe
> 
> if you wanna support me:  
> https://ko-fi.com/livesinbooks  
> I'm also thinking of doing writing commissions, so if you're interested, keep an eye open for that


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaminari starts visiting Greed and Ling a lot, and Greed gets suspicious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentioned child abuse, mentioned quirk-use against child

Kaminari starts hanging out at their place a lot despite the train ride to get there. He doesn’t ask about their crappy apartment or why there are no parents around, he also doesn’t ask why Greed doesn’t have a last name. All in all, he doesn’t pry and makes Ling happy, so Greed doesn’t mind him even though he talks almost as much as Ling.

It is very suspicious though, that he’s at their apartment so much. So one day, when it’s getting late and Kaminari is still somehow procrastinating going to the train station, Greed asks.  
“Does your home suck too?”  
Kaminari blinks surprised and then averts his eyes. Ling looks back and forth between them before putting an arm around the other boy where they’re sitting on the couch next to each other.  
“It’s okay, you can tell us. You know, Greed isn’t actually my brother. He just took me in because my siblings kept bullying me and my father didn’t notice or care…”  
“You act like siblings though, I totally believed it,” the blond mumbles and Greed huffs.  
“Whatever. Just tell us why you’re here all the time, brat. It makes no sense to come here after school every day. How do you even afford the train?”  
“I use the money my father gives me for school lunch…”  
“So you never eat lunch?” Ling asks shocked because of course he can’t imagine that. Kaminari nods and Greed pinches the bridge of his nose.  
“Why?” he asks again, insistently.

The kid leans into Ling and doesn’t look at them as he pulls up his shirt to reveal scars that look like roots of a tree or- Lightning. Kaminari has an electricity quirk, so one of his parents could have a lightning one. Greed steps closer to him and kneels down to take a closer look. There’s an entry point near his belly button and the scars move down to his leg, vanishing under his jeans.  
It fills him with anger and he pulls the shirt back down for the kid.  
“I hope you don’t mind sleeping on a crappy couch.”  
“What?”  
Kaminari looks confused while Ling starts bouncing on said couch excitedly.  
“You’re moving in with us!” he calls grinning.  
“If you want to,” Greed adds.

There’s hope shining in the blond’s eyes and he nods hesitantly.  
“But… I need to tell my father where I am… I… I can’t just not show up again, if he gets his hands on me…”  
Greed grabs Kaminari’s hands and squeezes them, probably too tightly, but the kid relaxes.  
“Then he’ll have to go through me first.”

So… somehow he cares for Kaminari too apparently. He really had to go ahead and adopt a second child, huh? He’s such an idiot.

He leaves the two in the apartment to chat and goes to the nearest store, buying another sleeping bag and some more pillows.  
That night Kaminari and Ling are lying cuddled up together on the couch, and it looks like it’s way too cramped, like Kaminari might fall to the floor any second, but they look calm. Maybe the close proximity is helping them relax. Greed watches them for another moment before steeling himself. Alright, so they’d have to go grab Kaminari’s things tomorrow and he’d have to make sure his father leaves the kid alone.

Greed could kill him, but he really doesn’t need that attention, and it would get the kid in trouble too. So he’ll have to use his words, fuck. They need a plan. A good one. Or just one that works…

\---

Kaminari is shaking like a leaf and Ling is clinging to his arm, ready to protect his friend. Greed walks in front of them to be their human shield (fitting, considering his quirk), and rings the doorbell.

“You better have a good explanation why you didn’t come home last-”  
The door is ripped open and a man with blond hair like Kaminari stares at them, pausing in his sentence.  
“Who are you?”  
He seems to spot Kaminari behind him and narrows his eyes.  
“Did my son get in trouble?”  
“No, we’re actually here to get his things. He’s moving out.”

The man stares and then bursts into laughter that sounds very wrong to Greed’s ears.  
“I’m not joking,” he interrupts coldly and the old Kaminari glares at him.  
“How dare you? You’re trying to steal my son away from me?”  
“He wants to come with me.”  
“Oh really? Then why isn’t he talking to me himself?”  
“Because I told him he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to.”  
“And why is that?”

Greed steps into the man’s personal space and stares at him with rage clearly showing on his face.  
“Because you’re an abusive asshole who hurt him enough. I won’t subject him to more pain by having him talk to you. The only reason he’s even here is so we don’t forget any of his things.”  
“Abusive?” He laughs again. “Is that what the coward told you? He can’t handle a few harsh words when he’s being annoying or brings home bad grades?”  
Taking a deep breath to hopefully radiate a calming aura, Greed turns to Ling and Kaminari.  
“Go pack your things, I’ll handle this.”

He grabs Kaminari’s father by the arm to make sure the boys get past him safely and then when he’s sure they’re out of hearing rage, he snarls:  
“I saw his scars. You’re using your fucking quirk on him.”  
That makes the man pause, he probably thought he’d scared his son enough that he wouldn’t tell anyone about that.  
“You know that that’s illegal, right? We could easily go to the police with this.”  
It wouldn’t be that easy. He knows it first hand. They tried it once, when father hurt Envy badly. The police had listened to their statements, looked at the photo evidence, and then promised to look into it and never called again or talked to them. Because they were just kids and their father was a trusted adult who surely had his reasons.  
Greed fucking hates the police.

But he’s good at bluffing, and the man in front of him is turning pale.  
“What do you want from me?” he snaps and Greed grins, showing his teeth.  
“I’m glad you’re asking. I want to take the kid with me and for you to never contact him again. If he wants to contact you some day I won’t stop him, but you’ll stay out of his life forever.”  
He feels cold when the man shrugs. It’s good for them, but also awful to see a parent give up their child that easily.  
“Alright, fine, in the end it’s a good thing to have him out of the house. But don’t bring him back when he annoys you with his stupidity. And I’m not paying for his school anymore, you can do that now.”

Greed almost falters at that because he does not have that kind of money, UA is expensive. But he nods anyways because he’ll find a way. And he’s not going to tell the kid because he might start thinking he’s a burden.

“Good, we have a deal. I need his legal documents.”  
He follows the man into the apartment to make sure he’s not going to bother the boys and takes the folder with the papers that’s shoved into his arms.

Mentally, he makes a list of additional expenses:  
\- UA  
\- train money to get to school daily  
\- lunch money (he could alternatively make him lunch daily and save some money)  
\- additional food in general  
\- other necessary purchases like toiletries for three people now  
\- money for clothes and other stuff the kids may need

He should have thought this through before agreeing to it. That’s not only a lot of money he somehow has to acquire legally, but also a lot of responsibility. He’s now fully responsible for Kaminari, and for Ling too, basically, even though he can still go home in theory. Greed really hopes he’s up for that, but there’s no way that he’ll change his mind now.  
No fucking way is he going to let them down. Greed will just have to find a second job, maybe a third.

The boys join them again a few minutes of tense silence later, both carrying a duffle bag.  
“Got everything?” Greed asks and Kaminari nods, avoiding looking at his father.  
Greed senses movement next to him more than he sees it and shields his arm, slamming it into the man’s chest.  
“I told you to leave him alone.”  
“I was just going to go to the kitchen,” the old Kaminari snaps, but Greed can see that Ling has his eyes narrowed, not with his usual smile, but with suspicion, and Ling is rarely wrong with his instincts considering people’s intentions.  
With two quick steps, Greed steps next to Kaminari and takes the bag from him, putting an arm around him.  
“We’re leaving then. If I ever see you near him again without his explicit consent, I’m exposing your abuse and then I’ll kill you.”  
After making sure he understands, Greed stirs Kaminari to the door, Ling following close behind.  
They leave the building and walk down the street in silence. Only once they reach the train station does Greed relax and let go of the boy.  
Handing the bag and folder to Ling, he studies Kaminari.  
“Are you alright? Should I go back and beat him up?” He’s grinning, but he’s dead serious, actually.  
“No… I’ll be okay. Hey, do you think you could call me Denki now? I don’t want to be associated with my father anymore…”  
Ling nods enthusiastically.  
“Of course!”

Greed also agrees and then buys them the train tickets to go back home. Home. Where he now lives with two kids he has to provide for. What did he get himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys make me so happy with your comments, i'm so glad people like this!!!  
> I can't wait for you to read chapter 9 :D  
> i think i'll keep updating daily, if I can keep it up because i don't have too many chapters pre-written, but i'll do my best


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sports festival & Ling being a clumsy idiot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: injury with knife & blood!  
> spoiler warning: sports festival  
> tag: I'll be forever salty about how they treated Bakugou at the sports festival
> 
> I'm sorry that the chapters are all so short, I'll try to write longer ones in the future!

Ling is home from school, “sick”, because he wants to watch the sports festival with Greed. He insisted on eating popcorn while they’re watching and Greed barely protested. He’s tired from work last night, but they promised Denki not to miss it.

It’s pretty boring in Greed’s opinion even though he is quite proud of how well Denki is doing, even when he doesn’t end up as one of the top three.  
The last fights are the most interesting ones, especially the one between Midoriya and Todoroki. For the last one, Greed watches closely. That Bakugou kid seems interesting and when fighting that girl the viewers have been fucking disrespectful to both of the kids.  
It’s an interesting fight even though the Todoroki boy seems to be holding back.

When Bakugou wins and doesn’t seem happy, Greed understands. Winning because an opponent isn’t trying properly is humiliating. It shocks him more than he’d like to admit when they knock him out and chain him up, putting a muzzle on him. Ling next to him has gone very still and then looks over at him.  
“Why are they doing that?”  
“Hell if I know.”  
Greed waits for someone to speak up, to help the kid. All Might takes off the muzzle at least, but he still forces the medal onto the boy and leaves him chained up. The camera quality isn’t the best and it’s not very close up, but Greed thinks there’s something akin to panic on the boy’s face. He growls and bites his lip.

“Fuck those UA people for treating their kids like that.”  
Ling leans against Greed’s side and he begrudgingly accepts it.  
“He looks scared,” the boy mumbles, seemingly analysing the boy closely. Greed nods and is almost glad when the broadcast is finally over.

\---

He talks to Denki that evening.  
First, he tells him that he’s proud of him because despite hating being mushy and babying the boys, he knows they need some encouragement. They didn’t get much or any of that at home after all.  
Then, he asks him about Bakugou and listens to Denki talk about the blond who seems to be one of his friends or trying to be his friend. The kid expresses his anger over having to see his friend chained up like that and Greed nods along.

“Bring him over some time if you want,” he grumbles, making his voice sound casual. “Or any other friends. This is your home, you can have friends over.”  
Ling who seems to have been listening in, perks up.  
“So can I bring Ed over some time?”

Greed smirks.  
“Of course.”  
“Only when you’re not home, you’ll scare him off!”  
“No I won’t.”

Denki watches them and laughs at their bickering.  
“I’ll ask Bakugou if he wants to hang out here some time.”

\---

That evening they cook together and it’s sickeningly domestic. Greed watches Denki and Ling chop vegetables and bicker and grins at the irony of this all.  
He left his family to become an independent villain, and instead he found a new family. It soothes some of his desires to have everything in the world for himself. A family he chose on his own is a good first step. After that he can work towards a better place to live, and then… maybe money. A partner. And if it’s still not enough, maybe then he can start thinking about ruling the world again.

Ling howls suddenly and Greed’s focus snaps back to the kids and the bloody hand the boy is holding up. It’s bleeding a lot. Fucking hell.  
He moves forward and grabs a towel and the kid’s hand, applying pressure.  
“You have to pay attention, you idiot,” he snaps, worry seeping into his voice.  
“I’m sorry.” Ling’s voice is trembling and Greed is getting even more worried when the blood starts seeping through the towel despite the pressure.  
“Where the fuck did you cut yourself?”  
“I think he hit his wrist more than his hand,” Denki says, looking pale.  
Greed curses, then remembers the kid’s quirk.

“Ling, I need you to focus and merge with me.”  
“Why? I can’t use your shield, it’s too late.”  
He sounds close to tears now.  
“My quirk also has some healing abilities, just fucking do it.”  
Ling’s eyes snap up to his and his healthy hand grabs onto Greed’s arm in a tight grip. And then Greed feels like his body is turning into smoke. He’s weightless, feels absolutely nothing.  
And then he snaps out of it and is looking at Denki.

 **“Did it not work?”** he asks and is startled when he can’t hear himself.  
“No, it worked.” He can’t see Ling, but he can feel the vibration of his voice in his own throat. He regains sense of a body around him, but he can’t move it. It feel’s fucking weird.  
Ling’s gaze focuses on his hand and he unwraps the towel. Together with one set of eyes, they watch as the cut closes slowly, red lightning dancing around it.  
“Oh thank fuck,” Denki mutters and Ling nods. It feels weird to not control the movement of the body you’re in.  
When the cut is all healed again, Greed wants to get out of this situation. It’s making him feel claustrophobic.  
**“Let me out again, kid.”**  
“Oh, yes, of course, I’m sorry.”

The same feeling of being nothing but wind hits him again and then he’s back in his own body, feeling briefly disoriented before he gets a grasp on himself.  
“I’d rather call your quirk absorbing to be honest,” he says, still a bit absently, and then rubs his face and checks Ling’s hand.  
“Be careful with fucking knives you absolute idiot.”  
He pulls him into a tight hug before shoving him off again.  
“I’ll finish cooking. You two go play or something.”  
Ling is looking at him as if he’s grown a second head.  
“You were worried!”  
“Of course I was fucking worried.”  
“You care about us!”

Greed pinches the bridge of his nose.  
“Get the fuck out of the kitchen you two brats.”  
Ling’s smile is blinding as he grabs Denki’s arm and pulls him to the couch.  
“He cares about us!”  
“He’s letting us live here, of course he cares.”  
“But he doesn’t show it a lot.”  
“Yeah I guess.”

“I can still hear you brats!”  
“The kitchen and living room are connected,” Ling yells back and Greed decides to just ignore them. The bloody towel is lying on the floor and he picks it up to throw it into the bathroom sink. Fucking Ling scaring him like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still can't quite believe that so many people like this story as much as i do, thank you so much for all the nice comments, they really make my day!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed meets the family, the family meets Ed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: cursing

_Edward Elric, quirk: Alchemy. Following the law of equivalent exchange he can re-shape matter by clapping his hands together, consequently creating or destroying objects._

The day after the sports festival, Denki has a free day while Ling has school. Greed has to go to work, and he hopes the kid is fine home alone.  
In the afternoon when he comes home not only is Ling there, but also a blond kid with a prosthetic arm.  
“Greed, this is Ed,” Ling says, warning in his eyes. Greed smirks brightly.  
“This bean sprout?”  
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL?”  
“Oh and he’s loud too, I see. Trying to make up for your height?”  
“I’LL KILL YOU IF YOU KEEP MAKING FUN OF ME!”

Ling hits Greed’s arm.  
“Stop it.”  
“Let me tease your friend, it’s all just a joke.”  
“Boyfriend.”

Greed barely hears it because Ling says it rather quietly. He looks at him, grinning even wider.  
“Boyfriend?”  
“Please don’t embarrass me.”  
“I would never. Come on, bean, we’re having a talk in the bedroom.”  
“What?! No!”  
He grabs Ed’s arm, ignoring his protests, and drags him into the bedroom. In there, he drops the grin and glowers at the boy.  
“If you hurt Ling in any way, they will never find your body.”  
He expects more yelling, or maybe scared cowering. What he doesn’t expect is the kid to step into his personal space and hold his gaze. He also doesn’t see it coming when he flips him off.  
“Fuck you, as if I’d ever hurt him.”  
Then Ed leaves the bedroom to return to the others and Greed smirks.

“Ling!” he yells. “I like your boyfriend, you can keep him!” Then he faceplants onto his bed to take a nap before work in the evening.

\---

Ed starts hanging out at their place a lot, but when Greed asks him about his family, he says they’re okay. His father is trying to be there for him and his little brother more and he has an adoptive sister and a grandma too. So he won’t have to adopt that kid too, that’s a relief.

Greed feels like he’s either working constantly or trying to raise the kids. He gains a new kind of appreciation for parents who stay calm and kind under the pressure of parenthood, and he kind of understands why some parents just give up on trying and are shitty, not that that’s okay. And he’s definitely not going to turn this home into a shitty one just because he’s a little tired. He’s better than those weak ass parents.

\---

One week in May Denki has an internship and stays with a friend so he doesn’t have to take the train every day, and it’s pretty quiet even though Ling brings his boyfriend over a lot.  
Greed takes the time to look for a better paid job and is glad when he finds one that also gives him some better working hours. He’ll still have to juggle two jobs, but it takes some of the weight off of his shoulders to know he can provide for the kids better even if they still can't afford a better place. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter, but the next one is pretty long!  
> It won't be a normal chapter, but rather a ... spin-off/side story thing about the internship of one student that is not a main character. I really like the chapter though so I hope you will too!


	8. Shouto's internship with the Flame Alchemist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouto's internship with the Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang and his agency

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a side story about Shouto's internship, so a short pause from the main Greed-centric story  
> I do however really like this chapter, and hope you enjoy it too!  
> The quirks are explained in the chapter itself too, so you can skip the explanations at the beginning if you want to.  
> I'm not a physics pro, and taught myself about air density in like 20 minutes, so if something is very wrong, please tell me, or just ignore it for the sake of fanfic :D  
> If there's anything confusing please do ask!
> 
> TW: implied child abuse, light description of violence  
> Spoiler Warnings: Hero Killer Stain Arc  
> tags:  
> Team Mustang hero agency  
> Todoroki Shouto Needs a Hug  
> Todoroki needs a good father figure  
> Roy: Hello I am ready for that responsibility  
> hinted Roy/Riza  
> hinted Roy/Havoc

_Roy Mustang, hero name: Flame Alchemist  
Quirk: Air Density; He can manipulate air density by controlling the air’s components, like oxygen. He uses his special gloves to create a spark and lets that spark burn into a bigger flame or explode depending on the air density._

_Riza Hawkeye, hero name: Hawkeye  
Quirk: Sharp-shooting; She can see perfectly up to 1km and control the bullets of her weapons with her mind as long as she can see them._

_Jean Havoc, hero name: Havoc  
Quirk: Emotions; He can make people in a radius of 50m feel any emotions and those at any intensity he wants, but while using his quirk, he feels them too. Works better when the person has already felt the emotions a few times in their life. Might accidentally project his own emotions when they’re very strong._

_Kain Fuery, hero name: Link  
Quirk: Communication; He can have a two-way telepathic conversation for max. 2h with someone after touching them, no distance limit. Can register up to 3 people in his brain at once, but it is harder to hear each one clearly. Gets a bad headache when he uses it too much or when the distance is too big._

\-----

Shouto is not looking forward to the internships. He got quite a bunch of offers, but he knows he has to intern with his father. Not only because he would be incredibly upset if Shouto didn’t, but also to finally learn more about his fire quirk, hopefully in a better way than when he was younger.  
He’s sitting outside of UA on some steps, letting the sun warm his face, not yet willing to go home. Someone sits down next to him and he startles.  
“Hey, Todoroki-kun.”  
Midoriya.

Shouto looks over at him and sees Midoriya’s little smile directed at him.  
“Why are you sitting here? Aren’t you going home?”  
“Not yet.”  
“Who will you be interning with?”  
“My father…”

Midoriya frowns and Shouto averts his eyes.  
“But why? After what you told me…”  
“I have to learn more about my fire quirk. It’s dangerous if I don’t.”  
“Do you have your internship offers with you?”

Not sure what his plan is, Shouto nods and pulls the letters out of his bag, holding them out to Midoriya. The boy flips through them quickly, looking impressed. He stops at one and holds it up with a big triumphant smile.

“Take this internship instead.”  
“Who is it?”  
Shouto has to admit that he hasn’t really looked at the letters that closely, his decision made from the beginning on.  
“Roy Mustang, hero name The Flame Alchemist.”  
The name has him perking up.

“He has a fire quirk?”  
“Not directly, his quirk is Air Density. He can manipulate air density by controlling the air’s components, like oxygen. He uses his special gloves that have flint on the fingertips to create a spark and lets that spark burn into a bigger flame or explode depending on the air density.”  
“So… He doesn’t have a fire quirk.”  
“No, but even though he could do other things with his quirk, he focused on fire and even chose his name with fire in mind. So why not intern with him? I’m sure he could teach you a thing or two.”

It does sound reasonable. And it would soothe some of Shouto’s worries about the internship. He really, really doesn’t want to spend the week with his father.  
“My father wouldn’t approve of that.”  
Midoriya’s eyes are sparkling with mischief.  
“He trained you up until now, didn’t he? He’ll have to admit that interning with a hero that’s new to you would benefit your training way more than going to the same trainer you had for years.”

Shouto stares at Midoriya for a moment before relief floods him. He’s right. It does make more sense to gain new experiences.  
“Midoriya, you just saved my internship.”  
He smiles lightly at him and the other boy blushes but returns the smile brightly.

\-----

His father is clearly angry, but can’t seem to find an argument that beats Midoriya’s, so on Monday of the internship week, Shouto takes the train to the agency of the Flame Alchemist. He’s pretty nervous, but he’s been taught how to hide his emotions perfectly, so it doesn’t show in any way. He’s keeping his head held up high even as people talk to him when they recognise him, and Shouto is glad when he can finally get off the train.  
The walk to the agency isn’t long and soon he’s standing in front of the door and pushes the buzzer, waiting. A male voice asks him who he is and once he explains, the door opens and he walks inside and follows a sign up the stairs.  
After walking through another door, he stumbles upon utter chaos.

There’s a blonde woman yelling at a dark-haired man, a blond guy in a wheelchair looking like he’s about to burst into tears from holding back laughter, and a short man with black hair and glasses who’s holding a dog and giggling.

Shouto doesn’t quite know what to do and is glad when the blond man spots him and raises his hands.  
“Our intern is here!” he calls and the woman and man turn in unison. They look both kind of embarrassed and then turn to the man in the wheelchair.  
“Havoc, did you make her angry again?” the man asks frowning, and the other is now wheeling himself away quickly.  
“Fuery, we have to strategically flee!”

The blonde woman takes pity on Shouto and approaches him, holding out her hand.  
“I’m Hawkeye, I apologise for the chaos. Our co-worker decided to play another one of his practical jokes again.”  
Shouto shakes her hand.  
“Shouto Todoroki. It’s alright.”  
“Mustang, greet your intern.”

Shouto looks at the dark-haired man surprised, the one the woman had been yelling at. So that’s the Flame Alchemist. He nods at him respectfully.  
“Thank you for letting me intern with you, Sir.”  
“How far, Hawkeye?”  
“Two meters, angle your body to the right about twenty degrees.”

Mustang starts walking, turning a little like Hawkeye said, and stops in front of Shouto, holding out his hand. Shouto shakes it, even more confused.

“I apologise for being forward, but what was that?”  
He’s looking at the man’s eyes and slowly realises that he doesn’t seem to be focused on him or anything at all.  
“How much do you know about our agency and our boss?” Hawkeye asks kindly and Shouto turns to face her.

“It was a rather spontaneous decision to intern with your agency, so I only know the Flame Alchemist’s quirk.”  
He’s embarrassed because he clearly should have done more research beforehand, but Hawkeye just keeps looking at him with kind eyes.  
“The Flame Alchemist is blind, I’m his eyes in battle and on normal days too, mostly.”  
It is quite the shock to hear that.

“A blind pro-hero?” He’s sure he heard something like a little while back, but he thought the story had been that the hero had retired after losing his sight.  
“Yes, and I’m the number seven hero at that.”  
The man sounds proud and Shouto can’t blame him. In the top ten as a blind hero? He should have studied the top ten heroes more, instead of just focusing on All Might and his father.

“Now, Todoroki, let’s go to my office to get the formalities and introductions out of the way. Hawkeye, please let Havoc know that I’m taking away five of his vacation days this year for that stunt he pulled.”  
“Yes, Sir.”  
Hawkeye sounds amused.  
The Flame Alchemist turns around and starts walking, Shouto follows him, worried he’ll have to warn him of any doorways or plants that are in the way, but the hero maneuvers around perfectly, so he probably knows this building really well.  
They enter an office and the man sits behind a desk, waving his hand.

“Sit down.”

Shouto obeys and fidgets with his fingers before clasping his hands together to stop himself. He sits up straight because even if Mustang can’t see him, he can’t forget his manners.  
“Alright, let’s talk. Tell me about your quirk. Hawkeye watched the sports festival for me to find an intern, so she told me a lot, but I would like to hear you describe it anyways.”  
“Alright. My quirk is half fire and half ice. I can produce and shoot ice with my right side, fire with my left. That’s… basically my whole quirk.”  
“Have you picked a hero name yet?”  
“Yes, it’s Shouto.”  
“How does your quirk react with emotions or other internal struggles? I assume fire is quite sensitive to those?”  
“Well… I never used my fire outside of training at home except for the one fight at the sports festival, so I also…”  
“You also repressed it in everyday life and don’t know if it reacts somehow?”  
“Yes.”

Once again, Shouto is embarrassed. He’s sure that Mustang regrets accepting him as intern already.  
“My ice doesn’t react to my emotions.”  
“Okay. We can work with that.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“You need to get more familiar with your fire, we can work with that.”  
“You’re keeping me as intern?”  
“Of course, why would I waste so much potential just because you lack experience?”  
Shouto doesn’t have an answer, so he stays silent.

“Any questions for me?”  
“May I ask about your eyes?”  
“Go ahead.”  
Mustang seems to be listening to him carefully to not miss anything, head slightly angled so his ear is turned towards him.  
“How long have you been without your sight?”  
“About a year now.”  
“How did you lose it?”  
“A fight with some villains.”  
His voice sounds sad as he says that, and Shouto decides not to ask about that particular fight.  
“So your sidekick is your eyes in battle? How does that work?”  
“Exactly like when she led me to you. Also, you better don’t call her my sidekick. Technically, she is a sidekick, but we prefer to work as equals, a hero duo, if you want to call it that.”  
“Okay. But… in a fight… Aren’t you worried about missing your target?”

He’s briefly horrified at his blunt question and wonders if the Flame Alchemist is angry with him now, but the man just chuckles. It’s a warm sound, it doesn’t sound like he’s laughing at him, rather with him.  
“No, I’m not. You see, Hawkeye can see up to 1km with her quirk, so I fully trust her eyes and her judgement. We’ve known each other since we were young. I’m willing to put my life in her hands.”  
“But fire is such a destructive quirk, what if something goes wrong, Sir?”

Mustang tilts his head in the other direction, looking curious.  
“Is that why you didn’t use your own quirk?”  
He nods before realising his mistake.  
“Yes, Sir.”  
“Well, I’ll help you understand it and learn how to control the fire, so you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

It’s… weird. What he’s saying is so different than what his father would say. He’s acknowledging his fear without belittling him for it or making him feel bad, he’s not telling him to stop being afraid, and he’s even encouraging him. Shouto is flooded with gratitude towards not only Mustang but also Midoriya for making him take this internship instead of his father’s.

\-----

After Shouto signs a form about the internship, Mustang introduces him properly to the rest of the team.  
There’s the man in the wheelchair, who says his name is Jean Havoc, hero name Havoc, and that his quirk is to manipulate emotions.  
“You know, I love to cause havoc.” He winks at Shouto who doesn’t laugh, but his lips twitch in amusement.  
The man with the glasses is Kain Fuery, hero name Link, he can create a telepathic link with someone he touches for two hours, to communicate with them.  
“Then there’s Hawkeye who you already met, who has her good sight as well as the ability to control the bullets of her guns as long as she can see them. And then there’s Breda and Falman who are on vacation right now.”  
“This is Hayate,” Fuery says and holds up the dog. Shouto stares at it before hesitantly holding out his hand. Hayate sniffs it and then licks it and Shouto can’t help but smile as he pets it.

“Fuery is an angel, isn’t he? He’s always carrying that dog around,” Havoc says grinning and reaches out to pet the dog as well.  
Shouto studies his wheelchair.  
“Do you help on patrol and in fights too or do you just work from here?” he asks because he’s been told to ask whatever he wants to know and to not hold back.  
“Oh no, I go on patrol occasionally too. Roy won’t let me help in any big fights, but I’m not useless, so I tag along as much as I can.”  
Filing that information away, he nods.  
“How does your quirk work?” he then continues.  
“I can make you feel any emotions I want as long as you’re in a 50m radius of me, and I have to feel the emotions too. Want to try it?”  
Shouto is hesitant, but then he nods.

At first he feels nothing, but then, like a bucket of… warm water and flower petals is being dumped over him, as if he’s standing in a warm summer breeze, he feels really happy. His mouth opens in awe as he basks in the emotion. He hasn’t felt such pure happiness… ever.  
Havoc is smiling at him brightly, obviously feeling it too.  
“Can you use it on more than one person at once?”  
“Two at a time for a minute or two works well. And, it gives me a bad headache, but for a few seconds I can control up to five people, but only the same emotion.”  
Shouto nods, feeling a little like Midoriya because he wants to write it down. He’ll definitely tell the other boy about their quirks after the internship. And he’ll ask him why he didn’t mention that Mustang is blind because Midoriya had to have known that. Maybe he was worried Shouto would have refused to intern with him then. Would he have? He’s not sure.

“Stop goofing around, we have work to do,” Hawkeye calls and Shouto wonders if Mustang is really their boss or if they all listen to the woman rather than the Flame Alchemist.

\-----

The rest of the first day, he’s left at the agency with Havoc and Fuery to help them with paperwork. Mustang said it’s so he gets a first insight of that too.  
But in the afternoon, maybe an hour before the day is over, Hawkeye and Mustang return from their patrol and Mustang asks him to follow them.

He obeys and they take the elevator to the basement. Shouto is about to ask where they’re going, when he sees the room they’re headed for: It’s a big empty gym.

“I promised to help you get to know and control your fire, so that’s what we’ll start doing today. Don’t worry, this room is specifically designed for fire training, so you don’t have to worry about setting the building on fire.”  
Shouto nods and steps after them into the room, then realises once again that he needs to speak here, non-verbal communication doesn’t work with the pro-hero.  
“Okay, Sir. Thank you.”  
“Good. Shouto- Can I call you by your hero name?”  
“Yes, Sir.”  
“Alright, Shouto. Now, let’s start by analysing your quirk, can you only use it on one side, or could you switch?”  
“Only on one side, the left one.”  
“Interesting.”

Mustang taps his chin, Hawkeye stands next to them silently.  
“Could you please make a small fire for us? Can you hold it?”  
“Eh… Yes.”  
Shouto bites his tongue and lights a small flame on his palm.  
“It looks normal, similar to when you set wood on fire, the size of a cherry, fully in his hand, not hovering, size remains the same even while the fire is flickering,” Hawkeye describes with a calm voice. Shouto will have to get used to this, to having someone describe everything around them in such precise detail.  
“Can you increase the size?” Mustang asks.  
Shouto does.

“Size growing, roughly as big as an apple, colour the same, still fully in his hand, flickering lightly.”  
“Why do you think it keeps flickering, Shouto? There’s no wind here, the oxygen levels are pretty constant.” Mustang sounds curious, like he really just wants to know without any meaning behind the question, no judgement hiding behind his words.  
Swallowing nervously, Shouto stares at his palm. But the Flame Alchemist’s and Hawkeye’s calm attitude makes him reply truthfully.  
“It’s most likely because I am scared.”  
“And why are you scared? Does it hurt? If it’s too hot, please extinguish it, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”  
“It’s not too hot,” Shouto says quickly. “My body can handle it. It’s more… The fear of what I could do with it.”

Hawkeye is watching him with intense eyes, and he feels like she knows something about him that he’s not saying.

“Shouto,” she addresses him now. “Did you ever hurt anyone with your fire?”  
“No, I did not.”  
Her eyes fix on his scar.  
“Did anyone ever hurt you with fire?”  
He squirms under her gaze, but doesn’t answer. It seems to be enough for her anyways, and she smiles gently.

“Just because some people use it for evil doesn’t mean that fire is inherently bad,” she says.  
“Exactly. Listen to her, she’s the smart one here,” Mustang says grinning.  
Shouto rubs his neck, unsure how to react.

“Alright, now let’s see your full fire power.”  
He blinks at the _see_ and Hawkeye sighs.  
“Don’t mind him, he thinks it’s funny to say things like that. I think that’s Havoc’s influence.”  
“Okay.” Shouto isn’t sure how to properly act around them and it makes him feel awkward. “Do you want me to use my full power? Are you sure?”  
“Yes. We’ll stand by the door, you just fire into the room with everything you have. Don’t worry, I’ll shield Hawkeye and myself with my quirk. As long as you don’t hurt yourself, don’t hold back.”

Mustang and Hawkeye go back to the door.  
“Are you sure?” Shouto asks.  
“Definitely,” Mustang says, voice confident. Shouto… trusts his judgement, so he nods and turns around to face the room that spreads out in front of him. He takes a deep breath, raises his left hand and then lets his fire out. The heat is scary at first, but it doesn’t hurt, so he increases the fire, flames shooting forward and roaring like they’re standing in a tornado of fire.  
He knows it should scare him, but a glance over his shoulder shows him that Mustang was right, no flames are getting through the shield around them. He’s probably taken all the oxygen out of the space in front of them so the fire dies before it can reach them.

So here, in this room, knowing he can’t hurt anybody, knowing he can’t do any serious damage… He feels powerful, and strangely free. Because it’s not his father making him use his fire. It’s another pro-hero who doesn’t even know him, and he’s not forcing him to do this, he’s giving him the opportunity. He’s listening to him, trying to help him understand his quirk.

He can distantly hear Hawkeye describing what’s happening to Mustang, and just because he can, he tries to find an answer for the man’s question from earlier. Taking a deep breath, he closes his eyes and thinks of all the times he was scared or angry, felt helpless, powerless, used, abused, alone. And then he lets go. He channels the whirl of emotions into a bundle and then pushes it out through his hand, arm, he’s pretty sure there’s fire coming from his leg too. It’s so warm his right side is starting to sweat, but it still doesn’t hurt.  
Finally, after some more moments of burning, he feels the heat getting too much and his arm getting weak, so he lets the flames die down. The room is charred, and he turns to the two heroes, expecting a scolding because he went too far.

But Hawkeye is smiling, and so is Mustang.  
“Your quirk is absolutely amazing, Shouto,” the man says, awe audible in his voice, making it clear that he means it.  
“This was really impressive,” Hawkeye agrees. “Once you fully get comfortable using it and manage to control and use it together with your ice, you will be one of the most powerful heroes.”  
A smile pulls at Shouto’s lips and he can feel his cheeks heating up under so much praise.  
“Thank you.” He doesn’t know what else to say. But it seems to be enough.

They stop for today then and while the elevator is taking them back upstairs, Mustang promises him that they’ll go on patrol together the next day.

\-----

The second day Shouto goes on patrol with Hawkeye and Mustang, like promised. It’s interesting to see their dynamic outside of the office. There’s no bickering, they’re fully professional. Well, at least most of the time.  
“It looks like rain. Let’s hope it doesn’t start raining or Mustang will be useless,” Hawkeye tells Shouto who tilts his head, thinking her words over.  
“Because he can’t make a proper spark in heavy rain?”  
“Yes, correct. Good thinking.”  
He feels something like pride glow in his chest at the praise.

Mustang’s indignant huffing distracts him.  
“I don’t become useless! I can still make an explosion! It might just take longer!”  
“No offense, Sir, but the extra time it costs you, makes you useless in rain.”

They argue for a bit longer until there’s a loud _bang_ and then screaming. Hawkeye tenses and reaches for one of her guns.  
“Shouto, stay close to us, keep an eye on our surroundings. In case I miss something you have to inform us.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”

He follows them as Hawkeye walks with quick steps, one hand firmly on Mustang’s arm who follows her without hesitance.  
They really trust each other completely.

The noise turns out to have been a small explosion to intimidate a store owner during a robbery.  
“Hands in the air,” Hawkeye calls as they see the robbers trying to escape with the money from the store. They’re two women who look at them startled now and hesitate but don’t make any move to obey.  
“Location?” the Flame Alchemist asks calmly and Shouto stares in shock.  
“But you can’t just use your fire on them! You’re going to kill them!”  
“My quirk isn’t a fire quirk,” Mustang says calmly and then Hawkeye tells him the exact position of each woman where they’ve slowly started inching backwards.

Shouto watches as one of them seems to slow down as Mustang raises one of his hands in front of him. It clicks then. Air density. He's making the air dense around them to trap them.  
While he’s doing that, Hawkeye holds her gun in a secure grip and moves towards them.  
“Put the bag on the floor and raise your hands,” she says calmly but with such authority it makes Shouto want to obey. Mustang was right, Hawkeye is definitely not a simple side-kick. She’s just as amazing as the Flame Alchemist.

The robbers seem to also think that Hawkeye is intimidating because they stop trying to push through the dense air around them and the one with the bag drops it and then both put their arms into the air.

“Fuery says that the police are on the way, they’ll be here any minute.”

Shouto stays quiet as Hawkeye and Mustang deal with all that and once the robbers are being put into the police cars, he approaches them again and bows.  
“I apologise for doubting your decision-making.”  
Mustang waves his hand and almost hits Shouto in the face.  
“No worries, kid. I would have questioned it too. You forgot I don’t only have fire.”

It’s surprising that he’s being so kind about it. That they’re all being so kind to him this whole time. Is that how you’re supposed to be treated by adults?

The rest of the patrol is very calm and Mustang tells him about how apparently Hawkeye’s father was really interested in his quirk and helped him figure out the fire angle.  
He talks about being scared of the fire at first, and never before has Shouto felt so understood.

\-----

Day three is uneventful at first. This time he’s on patrol with Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc. Havoc is chatting with him, and makes him push his wheelchair eventually because he claims his hands are tired, but he lights a cigarette and taps away on his phone, so that was probably an excuse. Shouto wonders why this team is so good at their work when they’re also so chaotic.

Their patrol is almost over when there’s reports from fights against really strong creatures and some smaller heroes on patrol nearby requesting backup, so they make their way there, Mustang and Havoc arguing.  
“It said they’re really strong, I won’t let you hold us back.”  
“I won’t hold you back. Fuck, Roy, when will you finally start trusting me again?”  
“I trust you, but I don’t want you in any unnecessary danger!”

Shouto is distracted by the class 1-A groupchat. It’s a message from Midoriya, just coordinates. A bad feeling settles in his chest and he checks how far away he is. Not too far.  
“I have to go,” he calls and Hawkeye looks at him surprised.  
“What?”  
“A friend needs me. I’ll send you the coordinates if you want to send backup.”  
Then he’s sprinting down the street, ignoring her call after him. Midoriya needs him.

\-----

Roy listens to the boy’s footsteps fade and curses.  
“We’ll send someone after him after we have a grasp on what we’re dealing with.”

They hurry on until Hawkeye brings them to an abrupt halt with her hand holding his arm. Her voice is even but quiet as she rapidly describes the most important aspects of the fight they’ve stumbled upon. A large creature with the brain showing is fighting against a group of heroes and no weapons seem to pierce its skin.  
It’s moving too fast for Hawkeye to give him an exact location so he tells her to stay by his side and get him to the thing. Maybe his fire would help, or if not, an explosion.  
To Havoc he says he should assist any injured and stay away from the thing. He can basically feel him fuming with anger, but he’s not going to argue with him, not now.

“Take me to that monster, Hawkeye.”

She’s perfect at her job, so she maneuvers them closer quickly, keeping him flush to her side so they can move almost like they’re one person. There’s yelling and a slight edge to Hawkeye’s voice as she tells him that the thing is about to hurt a defenseless hero.  
“Push me.”  
It shows how connected they are that she immediately understands and shoves him in the precise direction. He trusts her to get the hero out of the way and when his hand collides with something solid, he manipulates the air and snaps, the familiar sound of the flint like music in his ears. He kicks himself backwards from his opponent and makes the air dense in front of himself as a shield (keeping the oxygen levels low so he doesn’t give the fire fuel in front of himself) in a matter of seconds, then an explosion rings in his ears, and for good measures, he sends two more quick ones after.

“His head is blasted off, Sir,” Hawkeye informs him and he nods and drops the shield, ready to talk to the other heroes when there’s a shout of “Watch out!” and then Hawkeye yelling Havoc’s name.

The blood freezes in Roy’s veins. Not again.  
He can feel fear that’s not his and knows it’s Jean.  
“Riza?” he yells, dropping all formality. The panic is clear in his voice.  
“Five meters up and rising, ten meters ahead and accelerating, adjust thirty degrees to the left.”  
He does, but he can’t fly. He considers manipulating the air, but Hawkeye said they’re accelerating, so he might hurt Havoc.  
Still, he has to do something, so he starts running. This is an unfamiliar road, he may run into something any second and knock himself out, but he’s not losing Havoc.

“Pole at eleven o’clock.”  
The voice is shaking, but loud and clear and his body moves on instinct. Havoc’s instructions aren’t as practiced and precise as Hawkeye’s, but he manages to follow.  
“It’s getting faster,” Havoc calls, voice more quiet than before and Roy curses.  
“Tell me your position as detailed as possible.”

He barely waits for him to finish before doing something he once talked about with Hawkeye-san, but the old man deemed too dangerous. He explodes the air underneath himself, creating a light shield so he won’t blow himself to pieces, and then he’s flying through the air blindly, one hand outstretched.  
There’s no guarantee that he aimed right. He might have miscalculated the speed. But hey, he didn’t blow his limbs off, so that’s a good start!

And then a hand closes around his and he holds on as tight as he can and pushes his other hand against the weird leather skin of the creature and makes a small explosion. He can’t endanger Havoc by making one that can kill the beast, it just has to drop them. And drop them it does.  
And they’re falling, and he can’t see, and there’s only Jean’s hand in his. He uses his other hand to find his shoulder and pull him closer, wrapping an arm around him so they’re pressed together and he has a better understanding of both their bodies.  
“Tell me when-”  
“Now!”  
He changes the density underneath them, and it’s like a punch as they abruptly slow and then gently drop onto the floor. Roy can feel Havoc lying on him, and he takes a deep breath.

“Status,” he orders.  
“Can’t see the thing. Hawkeye is running towards us and she’s angry.”  
“Injuries?”  
“None, I’m fine.”  
“Havoc-”  
“Roy, I’m serious, I’m fine. You saved my life.”  
“I wouldn’t have to if you had just listened to me!”

Calm fills him and he wants to yell at Havoc to stop using his quirk on him, but he’s too relaxed to do anything but let his head rest against the pavement and listen to Riza’s footsteps.

“If you use your quirk on me I’m shooting you,” she hisses. “And drop it on Mustang too.”  
Roy feels the anger and worry flood him again and gasps at the force of his own emotions hitting him once more.

“What were you thinking?” Hawkeye yells, and Roy can hear her voice shaking.  
“You could have ran into something! You could have ripped yourself to pieces with that explosion! You could have missed and hit a building! You and Havoc could have fallen to the floor and died!”  
“But we didn’t,” Roy presses out between his teeth.  
“You could-”  
“Riza, we didn’t,” he snaps coldly and sits up, keeping his arm around Havoc, not willing to let go again in case the monster comes back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to do this, but I had to. I had to save him. I _had_ to.”  
He thinks of black hair and glasses.  
“I couldn’t lose another person I care about.”

Both Hawkeye and Havoc are silent, then the woman clears her throat. Her voice sounds scratchy as she speaks again.  
“We need to get back there and get Havoc into his wheelchair. I sent the other heroes to Shouto’s coordinates, we should follow. Maybe there’s more of those things.”  
Roy nods and slowly pushes himself to his feet. Then he leans down, holding out his arms. With Hawkeye’s help he lifts Havoc in his arms and grunts.  
“You’re heavy.”  
“Fuck you, don’t call me fat.”

The rest of the way back it’s silent.

\-----

Roy is tired. So when he listens to that Hero Killer talk about false heroes and only All Might being allowed to kill him, he really wants to just blow his head off. But Hawkeye told him there’s a student right behind him that he’d hit, so he grits his teeth and tries to come up with something, when there’s a metallic clink, and then-  
“I think he’s… out cold.”

His shoulders slump in relief. He would have beaten that guy in hand to hand combat if he had to, but he wouldn’t have done well. So he’s really just glad this is over.  
“Are the kids all okay?”  
“They look scared and injured, but they’re all conscious and alive.”  
Roy sighs. What a day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend Lee (who this fic is gifted to) and I love the Mustang agency in the bnha universe, so they will probably write a spin-off story that focuses on Team Mustang at UA, so keep an eye open for that, it will be amazing!
> 
> Tell me if you like such side-stories, because I have a few more planned to just explore some more of this universe  
> Tomorrow will be a normal chapter again, here a little teaser:
> 
> "I don't wanna meet your fucking roommate! I don't get why you live in this fucking shit hole so far from school!"  
> Greed looks up from where he’s once again scrolling through job offers on his phone, sitting on the couch. Ling is sleeping with his legs thrown over Greed’s lap and he hopes Denki and whoever friend of his that is who's complaining in front of the door won’t wake him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakugou Katsuki!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: implied physical child abuse, implied homophobia, blood, light injuries, cursing  
> tags:  
> Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings  
> Claustrophobic Bakugou Katsuki  
> Gay Bakugou Katsuki

"I don't wanna meet your fucking roommate! I don't get why you live in this fucking shit hole so far from school!" 

Greed looks up from where he’s once again scrolling through job offers on his phone, sitting on the couch. Ling is sleeping with his legs thrown over Greed’s lap and he hopes Denki and whoever friend of his that is who's complaining in front of the door won’t wake him.

"But he can help you."  
"I don't need fucking help."

Greed grins. Colourful language.

"She beats you!"  
"So what? I can take it, I'm not a fucking whimp!" 

His smirk falls then because it’s like that. Another child that needs help. He mentally prepares himself and glances at the phone in his hand again. Maybe he could ask Ling to steal something from his father’s place that they could sell. Three kids can’t sleep on the couch. But no, he can’t ask the boy to do that, he could get in big trouble. Greed will handle this.

The front door opens and Denki comes in, holding the arm of a familiar blond boy.  
“Katsuki Bakugou,” Greed says and puts his phone aside. “We finally met.”  
“What the fuck? How does the creep know me?”  
“I watched the sports festival.”  
The kid tenses and gets an angry expression on his face.  
“That’s Greed, my roommate,” Denki says before Bakugou can explode.  
“Weird fucking name.”

Ling stirs and cracks an eye open.  
“Oh, explosion boy.”  
“That's Ling, my other roommate, Ling, that’s Bakugou.”  
“Hello!” Ling smiles brightly and sits up, leaving his legs where they are.

Greed studies Bakugou. He’s about Denki’s height, but he’s standing slumped, a little like he’s in pain, and there’s a bruise on his left cheekbone that is badly covered with makeup.  
His eyes are fierce and he seems tense even though Denki is right next to him, still holding his arm.  
To get the whole story, he pretends that he didn’t hear them outside the door and asks why they’re here.

Denki nudges Bakugou, but he stays quiet, so Greed crosses his arms and waits. Patience is something his bratty roommates have taught him.  
"Sparky thinks I need your help. I don't."  
Interesting nickname. Greed doesn’t comment on it.  
"Who hit you?"  
"Another student in training." 

Even if he hadn't heard them, he'd recognise the lie from Denki’s facial expression. He decides to stop pretending he doesn’t know what’s up. They talked too loud, so it’s their fault anyways.  
"Drop the fucking act, brat. Your mom beats you, so stop being a coward and admit to it!"  
Bakugou's eyes fill with hate and something almost like fear.  
"Fine, so what if she does?"  
"Then she's an abusive bitch and you're staying here."  
Denki smiles and Bakugou stares like he doesn't understand.  
Greed shrugs.  
"One more person doesn't make a difference." 

It does, they need more space, it's already too crowded, but like hell would he tell the kid that and potentially scare him off.  
"Fine, whatever, but not forever, and I'm not playing _happy family_."  
Greed shows his teeth as he grins.  
"Good because we're not a family."

Both Ling and Denki snort at that, they know he’s lying. He doesn’t care all that much.

\----

Greed reluctantly gives the boys his bed and takes the couch because it’s easier for three people to share his bed. The nights when Bakugou isn’t there (which is most nights), he still sleeps in the living room because he really can’t make them share the cramped sofa anymore. Even for him alone it sucks to sleep on it.

Bakugou stays with them occasionally, when his mother is in a bad mood, but he still gets bruises, and Greed really hates it, but the kid doesn’t want to fully move in with them, so he has to accept that. He still gives him a key, just in case.

Ling and Bakugou get along okay. The blond insults everyone around him and is loud and aggressive, but he isn’t actually violent, so Greed isn’t worried. And Ling doesn’t seem to mind being called Smiley for his many smiles or Body Snatcher when Bakugou finds out about his quirk. Denki also seems pretty at ease around his classmate despite his attitude, which only encourages Greed’s theory that Bakugou is mostly bark and barely any bite.  
He doesn’t spend much time with them in general, he doesn’t seem to be a fan of the apartment, and Greed can’t blame him for it. But he hopes he’ll still come here when he needs help.

\----

It takes two more weeks until Greed wakes to the front door being unlocked.  
He sits up and rubs his eyes. It can’t be a robber because they have a key, so it has to be Bakugou, unless one of the others snuck out.  
The door opens and it’s the explosive boy. Water is dripping onto the floor where he’s standing, and there’s a backpack slung over his shoulder.  
“Don’t fucking laugh at me,” he snaps when he sees Greed watching him, voice raw. “I’m staying.”  
A few weeks ago Greed may have made fun of him for changing his mind so soon, but now his heart just aches and he walks to the bathroom, grabbing a towel.  
When he’s back in the living area, he turns on the light and stares at Bakugou. There’s blood on his shirt and the skin around his eyes is puffy and red.

“What the fuck did she do?” he asks, barely containing his rage but trying to focus on rubbing the kid’s hair dry carefully.  
“She went through my phone and saw some shit she didn’t like.”  
Greed looks at Bakugou and frowns.  
“What was she doing with your phone?”  
The boy shrugs and Greed continues scrubbing his hair with the towel.  
“And what did she see?”

The silence is deafening. Once the hair is not dripping with water anymore, he hands the towel to Bakugou.  
“Go change into dry clothes in the bathroom, then we talk.”

\----

While Bakugou is in the bathroom, Greed makes some strong coffee because now that he’s awake he can use the time to do some work.  
Some time later, he’s sitting on the couch with a steaming mug and looks up when Bakugou joins him.  
“Alright, spill, kid. You can trust me. I’m putting up with Ling and Denki, and I grew up with six weird siblings, so nothing can shock me.”  
It takes the boy a few minutes to reply.  
“She went through my phone and found out that I’m gay. She flipped out and hit me and then threw me out. I could just grab the backpack that I keep near the front door in case that happens.”  
“Why was your shirt bloody?”  
“Nosebleed from her hitting me.”

Greed sighs deeply and looks at him.  
“You should have just listened to me and moved in here fully the day Denki brought you over.”  
“Shut the fuck up, I know that now! I just didn’t want to live here.”  
“Why not?”  
“It’s too fucking small.”  
“You’re claustrophobic?”  
“So what if I am?”  
“Then you should have told me about that. The living and kitchen area is the biggest, so you can sleep on the couch. I’ll take the floor.”  
Bakugou relaxes a little next to him.  
“Fine,” he snaps. “This is still a cramped shithole.”

Snorting, Greed takes a large sip of boiling coffee and burns his tongue. A second later, he can feel his quirk heal it.  
“I know that, trust me. But raising three kids ain’t exactly cheap.”  
Embarrassment floods the kid’s face.  
“I… fuck. Okay, fuck. I’m sorry I guess.”  
“Don’t worry about it, I’m constantly looking around for a better job. We’re moving as soon as possible.”  
“I’ve got some money if you want like rent or whatever the fuck.” Bakugou sounds unsure and Greed huffs.  
“Oh kid, keep your three bills, I can handle this on my own.”  
“Hey!”  
“Just shut up and let me make sure the bitch didn’t break your nose.”  
He puts the coffee mug aside and turns to Bakugou, grabbing his chin. The kid hisses when he touches his nose and Greed forces his hands to be more careful and gentle (something he’s still working on even though he’s gotten a lot softer because of the kids already).  
“Can you breathe through it?”  
“Yeah.”  
Carefully, he pokes it again, and Bakugou winces.  
“It’s swollen, but not crooked, and you can breathe, so it’s probably broken but not out of place, it’ll heal alright. I’ll get you something from the fridge to hold against it.”  
Greed starts to get up when Bakugou grabs his arm, fingers holding on tightly.  
Confused, he looks at him and sees that he’s apparently struggling to find words. His grip tightens even more, but Greed doesn’t say anything, just waits.

“Thank you,” the kid finally grits out and Greed grins.  
“You’re welcome, brat. Don’t make me regret my decision.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you once again for your lovely comments!!  
> I'm really glad you liked the last chapter, I've got a few more planned that aren't POV Greed and don't focus on the main story line, but the next few chapters are main story only, so don't worry :D


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a new job & a new acquaintance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tags:  
> Greed flirts a lot with Aizawa  
> Greed is bad at flirting
> 
> an earlier chapter today because i was too excited about finally posting this  
> Greed and Aizawa, y'all!!!
> 
> TW: cursing, a line that can be seen as sexual harassment  
> 

Greed spends a lot of time in job interviews and writing applications. His back is killing him because despite his healing it feels sore after sleeping on the floor night after night.  
Finally, he finds a job opening that seems interesting. One, it’s at UA. Two, it pays really well and says something about confidentiality, so it’s intriguing.  
He doesn't tell the kids where he’s going when he takes the train one afternoon to get to the job interview.

A teacher with black hair falling to his shoulders and a way too long scarf wrapped around his neck leads him to the principal’s office. Greed attempts smalltalk, which, for him, mostly means flirting. Because of course he’s flirting, the guy may look a little homeless, but in a handsome way.

“I’m Greed.”  
“Shouta Aizawa.”  
The man sounds bored. Greed will change that.  
“I don’t have a last name. But if you’re offering…?”  
“I’m not.”  
“Boring.”

He eyes him up and down as they’re walking.  
“Interesting outfit. I wonder what kind of body you’re hiding under that.”  
Aizawa doesn’t bother with a reply. So he’s either straight or playing hard to get. Or not interested in Greed, but that’s unlikely.

“Does UA allow co-workers to date?”  
“Yes, but I doubt any of the staff will fall for your flirting _if_ you get the job.”  
Greed huffs, pleasantly surprised.  
“Oh, I like your snark. Insult me some more.”  
“Gross.”

They stop in front of a door and Aizawa points at it.  
“You should rather not flirt with Nedzu if you really want this job.”  
Then he turns around and just leaves.  
“Hey, can’t I have your number at least?”  
“No.”

Greed smirks. He likes a challenge.**

\----

The interview goes surprisingly well (he takes Aizawa’s advice and is on his best behaviour, no flirting) and he gets the job as janitor and secretary. It helps that he has recommendations from his previous jobs and the one he currently still has (and will probably keep) at the bar near their apartment.  
They’re apparently hesitant about hiring too many new people after the villain incident at one of their training sites called USJ, so they need him for both jobs and he happily obliges because they pay well, and he’ll be able to afford a new place after a few paychecks. He’ll probably choose one that’s closer to UA since he now works here and two of the kids go to this school. Ling will have to take the train then, but he shouldn't mind it too much.

Greed considers not telling the kids and just surprising them at UA, but that might backfire if people ask the right questions and find out they live - not fully legally - with Greed. So, he sits them down on the couch that evening and grins.

“You look like three kids about to get in big trouble.”  
“Are we in trouble?” Bakugou snaps.  
“Nope.” He lets the p make a loud popping sound.  
“Then what is it?” Denki asks curiously.  
“I got a new job.”  
“That’s great!” Ling beams.  
“Does that mean we can move?” Bakugou’s face is making a weird expression torn between angry and guilty.  
“Hopefully soon, yes.”  
The blond boy sags back into the couch, face relaxing.  
Denki hops up and down.  
“Where will you work?”  
“UA.”

The kid’s eyes widen.  
“As a teacher?”  
“Hell no. Janitor and secretary.”  
“He’d kill our class in less than ten minutes,” Bakugou mumbles with a smirk.  
“Me working there also means we’re going to move closer to UA once we have the money.”  
“But…” Ling pouts.  
Greed crosses his arms.  
“No arguments, it’s three out of four at UA, it only makes sense to move closer to that school.”  
“Fine…”

\----

The rest of June is mostly spent studying after school, since the end of term exams are coming up. This means Bakugou is at the library studying with a friend because he refuses to take them to the _cramped shit hole_ as he still calls it, Denki is off studying with another classmate at their house, and Ed and Ling are making out on the couch rather than studying.  
Greed is pretty fucking sick of all this, so he spends more time at UA, doing additional work.  
It’s kind of fun because he can annoy Aizawa who turns out to be the homeroom teacher of two of his brats.

“Hey, handsome,” Greed calls as he’s carrying two trashbags and spots the teacher in the hallway.  
“I don’t talk to trash.”  
It rips a bark of laughter from Greed’s lips.  
“You have humour, I like that.”  
“Why are you even still here? Didn’t your day end half an hour ago?”  
“Yes, but I just can’t get enough of work.” He smirks.  
“Bullshit.”  
“Well, if you do want to know…” Greed puts the trashbags onto the floor and leans against the wall. “My little brother is supposed to be studying right now, but he’s most likely making out on the couch with his loud annoying boyfriend.”  
He hears a snort and looks at Aizawa grinning.  
“So that’s what makes you happy? My misery?”  
“Of course.”

Aizawa walks closer and grabs one of the bags.  
“You’re helping me? That’s so sweet of you!”  
“Shut up or I’m throwing you away with the trash.”  
Chuckling, Greed follows him down the hall and outside to the dumpsters.  
“Why do you still live at home anyways? Aren’t you too old for that?” Aizawa asks, sounding bored or tired or both.  
“I don’t. Not if you mean with parents and shit. I just live with my brothers.”  
“Multiple? Are the others making out with people too?”  
“Nope, they’re somewhere else, actually studying.”  
“Fleeing the kissing brother too?”  
“Fleeing the shithole that is our apartment,” Greed snaps a little too heatedly and throws his bag into the dumpster with too much force.  
It’s just really getting on his nerves. He also wants a better place, and he’s working towards it, but it isn’t easy. He’s paying school money for two kids, their food, rent, train rides for everyone but Ling to get to UA daily, new clothes when they need them, toiletries and other essentials. Two of the kids staying away from it so much, and Bakugou even straight up saying he’d be embarrassed inviting his friends there? Yeah, he wanted to shake the kid. He didn’t, of course not. But he just felt like it for a moment.

“You sound angry.”  
“No fucking shit.”  
“What’s your quirk?”  
“What?”

The random question snaps Greed out of his steaming anger.  
“Your quirk. Do you have one?”  
“Of course I have a quirk. It’s a shield, and quick healing.”  
“Interesting combination. Care to show me?”

Greed narrows his eyes suspiciously.

“Why? You ignore me in the hallways whenever I greet you or insult me, and now you want a private demonstration of my quirk?”  
“What does one thing have to do with the other? And you’re not greeting me, you’re flirting inappropriately.”  
Shrugging, he crosses his arms and then encases his skin with his shield, only leaving his face vulnerable.  
“I show you mine, you show me yours.”

Aizawa’s lips twitch and then his eyes flare red and his hair floats. Greed has a moment to think ‘Damn that’s hot’, then he’s distracted by his shield being gone.  
“Wait, hold on, what are you doing?”  
The other man drops his quirk and smirks at him now.  
“I erase other people’s quirks.”  
“Damn, sounds useful.”  
“Yours too. I have a proposal for you.”

Greed presses a hand to his chest.  
“Yes, I’ll marry you. With you erasing my healing quirk we could have fun in the bedroom.”  
“Shut up and listen,” Aizawa drawls.  
“Fine. Shoot.”  
“I need an assistant for hero training. With your quirk, the kids could use you as the perfect punching bag.”  
With a snort, Greed steps forward to him.  
“Punching bag, huh? That’s all I’m good for?”  
“With what I know about you, yes, it is.”

He stares at Aizawa.  
“Damn, you’re still so mean, I love it. Don’t be shy, keep insulting me.”  
“Fuck off.”  
“Well, fine, but I’ll accept that job offer.”  
“Good, I’ll talk to Nedzu so you’re being paid well for being beaten up.”  
“That’s the dream. Making money with my pain.”  
“Be at the gym at nine tomorrow.”  
“I’ll be there. How about you be at the restaurant with me at nine today?”  
“Not even in your dreams.”

And with that Aizawa walks away, leaving Greed to stare after him smirking.  
“If you ever want me to stop flirting, you just have to tell me, you know!”  
Aizawa flips him off but doesn’t say anything. Greed smirks. He’ll get the guy to like him, easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo what do you think about this dynamic because I am absolutely in love with writing Greed and Aizawa interactions
> 
> (I know it doesn't make 100% sense for UA to hire someone who's kinda shady like Greed, but he is charming in a way and has references from previous jobs and I just think hiring someone like Greed would be kinda fitting for UA making some not so good decisions :D)
> 
> **IMPORTANT  
> A comment made me realise how harmful the line "He likes a challenge" is.  
> I kept thinking of possible ways to change the line, but it's not possible considering how the story unfolds, so first of all I want to apologise for it and for hurting anyone with it.  
> Then I want to assure you that Greed explicitly tells Aizawa that if he wants him to stop, he will stop, on multiple occasions. Consent is important and despite Greed's flirty personality (and greedy personality because he's not exactly a good person in canon), I did my best to always establish consent.  
> I just wanted to clear this up in case anyone decides to stop reading here because they think I support sexual harassment and abusive relationships. I do not, and I am so sorry if it comes across like that in this chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hero training with the human punching bag Greed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so happy you seem to like Greedzawa as much as I do!! It's amazing isn't it? Their dynamic, I love writing it
> 
> TW: blood & mild injuries from training

The next day, Greed shows up at the gym five minutes past nine and Aizawa rolls his eyes at him before introducing him to the students. Denki seems excited while Bakugou is frowning, probably worried Greed will embarrass him somehow.  
He told the kids that he’d be here, and that they should pretend not to know him.

“This is the janitor and secretary, Greed. His quirk is a shield-healing combination, and he agreed to help you with practice. You all know the final exams are approaching and you should be training for the physical one as much as you’re studying for the theoretical exams.”

Greed smirks and waves.  
“Hello, class. Don’t hold back, there’s barely anything that can penetrate my shield.”  
His smirk widens, but before he can make an inappropriate joke, Aizawa shoves him.  
“Split into pairs.”  
“Two against one, huh?”

Remembering all the fight training he had with his siblings, occasionally everyone versus him because of his quirk, he can’t wait to beat the kids’ asses.  
“I am allowed to fight back, aren’t I? A still target is boring to practice with.”  
Aizawa narrows his eyes at him.  
“Don’t kill them.”  
“Promise.”

\----

The first people fighting him are Bakugou and a red-haired boy who introduces himself as Kirishima.  
Greed smirks at Bakugou.  
“And what’s your name, blondie?”  
“Bakugou, fuckface” he snaps.  
“Bakugou, be nicer to our guest,” Aizawa orders and Greed cackles.  
“Let’s get it over with, brat.”

He raises his shield, keeping his face uncovered to give them a potential target, and raises his clawed hands.  
“Show me what you got.”  
He doesn’t remember what Kirishima’s quirk is from the sports festival, so he grins when the kid turns out to have a similar one to his.  
“Hey, that’s an awesome quirk, kid!” he calls as he blocks his hardened arm easily and, immediately after that, ducks out of the way of Bakugou’s explosion.  
“Thanks.” The boy beams at him so widely, it makes Greed wonder if he’s not often praised for his quirk.  
Well, Greed can’t accept that. He can almost hear the Baku-brat call him a softie as he stays closer to Kirishima while fighting and compliments his technique a few more times for some good hits.

Bakugou tolerates it for a bit until he gets fed up and yells at Greed not to ignore him.  
His shield rises on instinct, even before he feels the heat, and then an explosion hits him right in the chest and throws him across the room.  
There are gasps and he can hear Kirishima saying that Bakugou went too far.  
Greed just laughs as he picks himself up from the floor.

“Ultimate Shield means not even Baku-brat’s explosions can hurt me.”  
“Dude, your face looks so awesome when it’s covered!” Kirishima exclaims. “So manly!”  
“Thanks, kid.”  
Greed catches Aizawa’s eyes and winks at him. The teacher just looks back flatly.  
“Get back to fighting.”

\----

By the time he’s fought each pair for five minutes, Greed is exhausted. Some of the kids are damn good. The last group, two girls, Jirou and Yaoyorozu, even got him to drop his shield and hit him. Jirou used her quirk to make a loud noise to hurt his ears - good to know that his shield can’t protect him from loud sounds - and he briefly dropped his shield, giving Yaoyorozu’s spear (which she’d pulled out of her thigh) an opening.

It’s still sticking in his leg, and he winces as he rips it out so it doesn’t fuse with his body.

(His quirk is weird. At sixteen he had the brilliant idea to get his belly button pierced. But because of his healing, it merged with his skin, and when he tried to rip it out forcefully, a new piercing grew back. His quirk apparently assumes that everything that heals into his skin belongs there, so he has to be careful and take weapons out before he heals around them if he doesn’t want a knife, or in this case a spear, to be a permanent part of his body.)

The class watches in awe as the red lightning sparks around the wound and it closes slowly. He heals faster when he has more energy because it costs energy, just like keeping the shield up for a long time. So now that he’s exhausted and hungry, the wound is closing painfully slowly, blood dripping onto the floor.

“No worries everyone, just give it a few minutes. You all did pretty good, I’m impressed.”  
Thankfully, that diverts their attention away from him and they start chatting about the fights to each other, and how they could improve. Aizawa interrupts and sends them off to go change and get to their next class. When they’re alone, he raises an eyebrow at Greed.

“That healing quirk of yours sounded more impressive than it is. At this rate you might still bleed out.”  
“It’s my lack of energy. I didn’t properly fight in a while, I’m out of practice, so your kids tired me out pretty damn well.”  
Aizawa’s scarf shoots forward and wraps around his leg, stopping the bleeding.  
“Sit down and get some energy back. You’re the janitor, you have to clean this mess.”

Greed snorts and drops to the floor, rubbing his face.  
“Do you have an energy drink on you or any snacks?”  
“I don’t, so you’ll just have to wait it out.”  
“And you’ll wait with me?”  
“I’m not leaving my scarf alone with you. Who knows what you’d do.”  
Chuckling, he winks at Aizawa.  
“Sure, I bet that’s the only reason.”  
“Shut up or I cancel your quirk and let you bleed out.”  
“You’re really rude. I’m into it.”  
“I regret giving you this job.”

Pouting, Greed lies back and stares at the ceiling of the gym. They stay like that for a few minutes until Aizawa breaks the quiet atmosphere.

“I talked Nedzu into paying you per lesson.”  
He grins.  
“Thanks, handsome.”  
“Don’t call me that.”  
“You sure?”  
“Yes.”  
“Okay.”

There’s silence again, and Greed turns his head to look at Aizawa who’s frowning.  
“What? I told you that I’ll stop if you seriously ask me to. So… Do you want me to stop flirting for good?”  
The teacher only frowns more and looks at Greed’s leg instead of answering.  
Greed starts laughing.  
“So you like my flirting but are too stubborn to admit it, noted.”  
“Is your leg healed?”  
It’s a cheap attempt to save dignity, but Greed allows it.  
“It barely hurts anymore, so probably mostly.”

The scarf removes itself from the wound and there’s only a large scratch left that’s closing slowly.  
Greed sits up and then pushes to his feet slowly, shaking his leg a bit.  
“Almost good as new, awesome. So I guess I’ll have to clean up here now?”  
“Exactly. Be here again tomorrow, same time. Not too late again.”  
“You got it.”  
Greed winks at Aizawa and then walks away to get the cleaning supplies for the acid, burn marks, etc that’s on the floor of the gym now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greed said: I'm a flirt but I respect consent
> 
> Teaser for the next chapter:
> 
> On June 29th, it’s Denki’s birthday. Greed and Bakugou are in the kitchen making Denki’s favourite food for dinner (besides burgers) while Ling and the birthday kid are on the couch reading the manga together that Greed got him.  
> It’s honestly humiliating that he can’t give him more for his birthday, but they need to save up for a new place. At least Ling stole money from his father again and bought Denki lightning bolt earrings.  
> Greed isn’t thrilled, but the kids will pierce Denki’s ears after dinner. He’s ready to drive him to the hospital in case they miss and stab him in the neck or something, and he doesn’t even have a car. He’d steal the one that’s always parked in front of the building.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Denki's 16th birthday, arguments and pierced ears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: ears getting pierced, needles, cursing

On June 29th, it’s Denki’s birthday. Greed and Bakugou are in the kitchen making Denki’s favourite food for dinner (besides burgers) while Ling and the birthday kid are on the couch reading the manga together that Greed got him.  
It’s honestly humiliating that he can’t give him more for his birthday, but they need to save up for a new place. At least Ling stole money from his father again and bought Denki lightning bolt earrings.  
Greed isn’t thrilled, but the kids will pierce Denki’s ears after dinner. He’s ready to drive him to the hospital in case they miss and stab him in the neck or something, and he doesn’t even have a car. He’d steal the one that’s always parked in front of the building.

“Oi, old man, pay attention to what you’re doing,” Bakugou snaps and Greed focuses on the vegetables he’s cutting. His finger would grow back if he cut it off, but then he’d have ruined the food and Bakugou would kill him.  
“Don’t talk to me like that, Baku-brat.”  
“Don’t call me that.”  
“Bakugou, then.”  
“No, I meant that. Don’t fucking call me Bakugou. Call me brat all you want, but don’t call me that name.”

Greed’s eyebrows shoot up and he watches Bakugou (Katsuki now?) who’s pointedly avoiding eye contact with him.  
“Since when does it bother you?”  
“Since I moved out from home.”  
“Why didn’t you say anything? You don’t hold back usually.”  
“I also didn’t want you to call me Katsuki.”  
The kid is blunt as he says it, and Greed takes it in and nods.  
“Understandable. Still, I’d have just called you brat or kid.”  
“Whatever. I told you now, didn’t I?”

They go back to cooking for a few minutes.  
“You can call me Katsuki now though.”

Greed doesn’t reply, but his chest feels warm. So he finally earned his trust. Only took all of June, but it’s still sooner than he expected.

\----

After dinner, Ling gets a towel and spreads it on the table, Denki takes off his shirt and lies on said towel, and Katsuki sits on the counter, heating up a needle with a lighter.  
Greed frowns and crosses his arms, watching the chaos begin. Why are they treating this as if he'll bleed half to death from piercing his ears?

“Why does this look like you’re about to sacrifice Denki?”  
Ling snorts. “Let’s draw a pentagram onto him. We still have ketchup in the fridge.”  
“No wasting food,” Greed warns and Denki grins at him from his spot on the table.

“Okay, I have wikihow here, let’s see.”  
Greed stares at Ling who’s scrolling on his phone.  
“You’re using wikihow to pierce Denki’s ears?”  
“Yes?” The brat doesn’t even look up.  
With a deep sigh, Greed rubs his face.  
“Whatever. Just… don’t kill him.”

“Yes, yes. Okay, Katsuki, where’s the sanitizing thing you stole from the school nurse?”  
“In the bathroom.”  
While Ling hops away, clearly excited about the whole situation, Greed frowns at Katsuki.  
“You stole from the school nurse?”  
“Only some sanitizing wipes.”  
“No, not _only_.” Greed walks to him. “You don’t steal, you hear me? You could have just asked me to buy some.”  
“You’re the one who says we have to save money!”  
“And we do, but I’m not letting you become a criminal!”  
That makes Katsuki splutter angrily.  
“What the fuck?! You think I’m on my way to becoming a villain?”  
“I didn’t say that.”  
"But you let Ling steal from his father whenever he feels like it! And the one time I do it, you yell at me!"  
"With Ling it's different."  
"Oh, really? Because he's your favourite?"

Greed grits his teeth.  
"He's not my favourite, I don't have a favourite."  
"What is it then?" Katsuki's face is red with anger.  
"He steals from his father. His father owes him for all the shit Ling went through."  
"Okay, then I'll only steal from people who owe me?!"

Greed wants to make him shut up, but he forces himself to take a deep breath, and buries his fingernails in his palm. Underneath the anger there are clear insecurities and fear shining through. Katsuki is honestly scared that Greed thinks he'll turn evil.

"Fine. You're right, it doesn't make sense, I'm a hypocrite. Nobody is stealing anymore. Not Ling, not you. Stealing once doesn't make you evil, but don't do it again, I _will_ ground you."  
“Shut the fuck up, I won't do it again, I’ll never be a villain! I’m a hero!”

It’s scary how desperate he sounds in that moment, and Greed raises his hands defensively, trying to channel his best calming voice.  
“Katsuki,” he says as gently as he can. “I didn’t say you’d be a villain. Stealing some sanitary shit doesn’t make you one. But I don’t want you to start stealing regularly just because we can’t afford much at the moment. I'm sorry I let Ling get away with it but immediately told you off for it. It won't happen again.”  
Katsuki is still holding the lighter to the needle, hands trembling. Greed sits next to him on the counter.  
“Who called you a villain?”  
“A bunch of people on the street after the sports festival. And my mum too…”  
With a sigh, Greed rubs the kid’s back.

“Not to be sappy or anything, but I for one think you’re gonna be a damn good hero in the future, and you’re gonna prove all those people wrong.”  
“That’s disgustingly nice of you to say,” Katsuki snaps, but his rigid posture relaxes a bit and he puts the lighter away.

"And about the sports festival, they shouldn't have done that. I'll yell at Aizawa for you if you want."  
"It wasn't his fault, he had two broken arms and was in the commentators room. He couldn't have helped if he wanted to."  
Greed is glad to hear that.  
"Still, if you need me to bring it up at work some time I will."  
"Don't. I just want to forget about it."  
With a sigh, Greed pats Katsuki's shoulder and nods.  
"Alright…"

Ling walks back into the kitchen then, and Greed is pretty sure that he waited on purpose to give them a moment. Denki is staring at the ceiling as if it’s really interesting. Yeah, there’s not much privacy in this place.

"Ling, did you hear what I said about stealing?"  
The kid nods.  
"I won't do it again. Promise."  
"Good. Then proceed."

“Okay, wipe the ear clean of bacteria,” Ling continues as if they never had that interruption. Greed watches from the counter as Katsuki gets up and joins them at the table, needle ready.  
“Mark where the piercing should go.”  
“I don’t need that, I can wing it,” Katsuki decides.  
“Are you sure?” Denki looks at them from the table. Greed snorts and ignores the death glare Katsuki shoots at him.  
Sighing, Denki waves his hand. “Whatever, I trust you, just don’t do it too lopsided.”  
“Get a sterile piercing needle. We have a normal one, that should work. Get the earrings.”  
Denki holds up his hand with the earrings Ling got him.

“Sterilize the needle, we did that. Wash your hands. Put your hair up. Put something sturdy behind the ear and then pierce it. Sounds easy enough.”

Greed watches, feeling tired and exasperated as Ling holds a damn apple behind Denki’s ear while the kid is babbling nervously and Katsuki positions the needle with steady hands.  
Then the kid pushes the needle forward and Denki squeaks.  
“Earring!” Ling yells and grabs it from his palm, leaning over Katsuki and putting it into the ear. Then they quickly move to the second ear.

A minute or two later, they’re done and Denki grins at the other two.  
“We did it!”  
“You didn’t do anything,” Katsuki snaps.  
Ling looks up from his phone with a sheepish expression and Greed narrows his eyes.  
“What is it?”  
“Well… Here it says something about special piercing earrings. I gave Denki normal ones.”  
Denki stares at him before frantically pacing the room.  
“My ears are gonna fall off! They’ll get infected and fall off!”  
“I’ll research! It can’t be that bad, they were clean!”  
“Fucking hell, Smiley, couldn’t you have researched before we did this?”  
“I’m sorry!”

“Enough!” Greed yells and they all stop what they’re doing and turn to him. He pinches the bridge of his nose and walks to Denki, planting his hands on his shoulders. “Calm the fuck down. They’re clean earrings, I’ll get you something to clean them with regularly, it will be alright. And even if they get infected, your ears won’t fall off. You can just go to that nurse at your school and get it fixed.”  
The kid takes a deep breath and the swirl of emotions in his eyes settles.  
“You’re right, I didn’t think of that.”  
Greed squeezes his shoulders before pulling his hands back and turning to Ling who hangs his head embarrassed.  
“Next time you do research beforehand.”  
“Yes… I’m sorry.”  
Katsuki is next.  
“Don’t yell at the others like that."  
“Yeah yeah, fine.”

Feeling ten years older after this disaster, he shakes his head.  
“Clean up and then get ready for bed. I’ve got a nightshift today.”  
“At UA?” Denki asks and Greed almost smiles because he’s so innocent.  
“No, at my other job.”  
“You still have that?”  
“Yes, but don’t worry about it, go to bed and read your manga.”  
While Ling and Denki vanish to the bathroom with the towel, Katsuki is staring at Greed who raises an eyebrow at him.  
“Don’t fucking overwork yourself for us.”  
“I won’t, brat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again thank you so much for all your comments, they keep me really motivated to write!!  
> I'm so happy you ship Aizawa and Greed too!!
> 
> Teaser for the next chapter which is kinda short again:
> 
> Greed is glad when it’s finally exam week even though the kids are nervous as fuck. It means they have holidays soon, and they deserve a break and some time to just relax, Denki and Katsuki at least until they have to go to that training camp.  
> He wishes them good luck every morning and then tries to focus on work even though internally he worries about how the kids are doing.
> 
> On Friday, Ling and Katsuki are in a good mood as they come home. Denki pushes past Greed without a word and slams the bedroom door. With a sigh, he looks at the other two and the blond boy nods.  
> “Yeah, he failed. He’s still coming to camp though, Aizawa lied. But he’ll have to take classes there or some shit.”  
> “Should I talk to him?” Ling offers, but Greed waves him off.  
> “I’ll do it.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the final exams, Denki needs a hug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler warning: final exams  
> TW: cursing

Greed is glad when it’s finally exam week even though the kids are nervous as fuck. It means they have holidays soon, and they deserve a break and some time to just relax, Denki and Katsuki at least until they have to go to that training camp.  
He wishes them good luck every morning and then tries to focus on work even though internally he worries about how the kids are doing.

On Friday, Ling and Katsuki are in a good mood as they come home. Denki pushes past Greed without a word and slams the bedroom door. With a sigh, he looks at the other two and the blond boy nods.  
“Yeah, he failed. He’s still coming to camp though, Aizawa lied. But he’ll have to take classes there or some shit.”  
“Should I talk to him?” Ling offers, but Greed waves him off.  
“I’ll do it.”

He walks to the bedroom door and knocks, waiting. When Denki doesn’t answer, he opens it and sticks his head in.  
“Hey, brat, can we talk?”  
“No. I don’t want to talk.”  
“Well, but I want to.”  
“Fine…”

Greed closes the door after himself and sits next to the kid on the bed. Denki is crying.  
“It’s just exams. Not the end of the world,” Greed says.  
“But it’s important to pass!” The kid’s voice is shaking.  
“You’ll pass the next exams.”  
“Maybe I’m too stupid.”  
“You’re not stupid. You may be a dumbass, but you’re smart. You read your weird english poetry for fun.”  
“It’s not poetry…”  
“Whatever. You’re not stupid.”  
“Are you sure?” Denki whispers and Greed sighs and ruffles the boy’s hair.  
“Yes. How did the practical exam go?”

Denki laughs and it sounds wet with tears.  
“Mina and I had to fight principal Nedzu and he went kinda crazy and I thought he’d actually kill us.”  
“What the fuck?”  
“Well, he didn’t though. But we failed because we couldn’t even get close to him…”  
“If you want, I’ll train with you sometimes,” Greed offers before he can think about it properly. He doesn’t take it back. “I’ll bully Aizawa into letting us use the gym after school or during the break.”  
At that, Denki laughs again and it sounds more honest this time.  
“You totally have a crush on Aizawa-sensei.”  
Greed snorts.  
“I don’t, flirting with him is just fun. So, what do you think? Private extra training with me?”  
“I mean, why not? I can use that I guess…”  
They’re silent for a few moments.  
“Hey, Greed?”  
“Yeah, kid?”

He looks over at him, Denki is smiling a bit.  
“Can I give you a hug?”  
Greed isn’t a hugger, generally not a very touchy person, but he nods. Denki looks like he needs it, so he opens his arms and holds the brat close for a few moments before they separate again and look at each other.  
“Thanks for everything you’re doing for us… I know you kinda struggle because of Katsuki and my school money… If you need us to find a job to help you out, we totally will.”  
“See? Now that just proves that you’re not stupid. I didn’t think you’d know about the school money thing.”  
Denki huffs and pokes Greed’s arm.  
“Of course I know my father isn’t paying for that anymore… And Kat’s parents probably also stopped. So… do you need help?”

If he was honest, yes. Greed does need help. He’s absolutely exhausted from working at UA all day and then at the bar most nights. But the kids have way too much pressure on them and are too stressed with school already.  
“I’m doing fine, kid, don’t worry about me. You just focus on school and your break, okay?”  
“Okay, if you’re sure?”  
He grins at him brightly.  
“When am I not sure?”

Denki smiles and gets up.  
“Okay. I’ll go eat something and later we’re meeting our classmates at the mall. Is that okay?”  
“Sure. Are you taking Ling with you?”  
“Yeah, Ed is coming too.”  
“Okay, just behave.”  
“We always behave!”  
Snorting, Greed waves him off.  
“Sure thing, kid. See you tomorrow morning, I’ll probably be at work by the time you’re back.”

\----

When the kids are gone, Greed eats an apple and then falls into bed. He sets an alarm for when he has to leave for work and wonders how much longer he can do this. Once they moved to a better place, he’ll quit the job at the bar so he can at least get a full night’s sleep every night.  
If they can afford that.  
He pushes those thoughts away, closes his eyes, and then he’s out cold in a matter of seconds. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greed just wants his kids to be happy and have a good life even if it means lying to them about not needing help :(
> 
> Teaser:
> 
> While Katsuki and Denki are on their trip to that island Greed is not remotely interested in, he and Ling have some quality time to bond as brothers- Ling’s words, not his.
> 
> Ling insists on going to the beach together with Ed and his siblings, as well as with a friend of Ed’s sister, and because Greed is weak and cares too much about the brat and his boyfriend, he agrees. So, now, here he is, lying in the sand next to Ed’s little brother Alphonse, and watches Ling, Ed, Winry and her friend Paninya play in the water together.  
> It looks like they’re trying to drown each other. Ed is sitting on Ling’s shoulders, Winry on Paninya’s, and the goal seems to be to push the other person off of their partner.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> beach day with the fmab kids!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: cursing
> 
> Last chapter of the calm before the storm, next chapter things go downhill!

_Alphonse Elric, quirk: Soul Binding. He can, for up to ten minutes, bind his soul to any object he wants, and control it, for example possess a suit of armour and fight with it, or hack into a computer by binding his soul to it._

While Katsuki and Denki are on their trip to that island Greed is not remotely interested in, he and Ling have some quality time to bond as brothers- Ling’s words, not his.

Ling insists on going to the beach together with Ed and his siblings, as well as with a friend of Ed’s sister, and because Greed is weak and cares too much about the brat and his boyfriend, he agrees. So, now, here he is, lying in the sand next to Ed’s little brother Alphonse, and watches Ling, Ed, Winry and her friend Paninya play in the water together.  
It looks like they’re trying to drown each other. Ed is sitting on Ling’s shoulders, Winry on Paninya’s, and the goal seems to be to push the other person off of their partner.

Greed looks over at Alphonse.  
“You don’t want to go join them, kid?”  
“Not right now, no. Ed and Winry get too competitive at this, it’s no fun.”  
“I see. Let’s hope they don’t die.” He grins toothily and the boy grins back.  
“They might.”  
He decides that he likes the kid. He’s more chill than Ed, but just as sassy.  
“So you live with Ling and his friends?”  
“I do.”  
“Because their home was bad?”  
“How much did he tell you?”  
“Not too much, but I overheard him talk to Ed about his siblings and then that he lives with you, so I just put two and two together.”  
“Then yes. I took them in because their homes were shitty.”

Al smiles at him.  
“That’s really nice of you. You’re a real hero.”  
Greed rubs his neck.  
“Not to burst your bubble, kid, I am definitely not a hero.”  
“Whatever, I think you are.”  
The boy turns his face back to watch the other brats and Greed huffs. Okay then? Some random kid thinking he’s a hero. No big deal. Definitely not a reason to get sentimental.

“I’ll go buy some ice cream. You want some?”  
“Strawberry please.” Al beams at him. Fuck, kids are adorable.  
“Sure thing.”

He grabs some money and then walks over to the ice cream parlour by the entrance to the beach.  
A few steps before the door, he stops and turns back to look at the kids. He can hear Ling laughing and sees Ed falling off of his shoulders. Ling pulls him out of the water and grins at him, then they kiss but are interrupted by Winry and Paninya splashing water at them.  
His chest aches when he thinks of his own childhood. Training and dark hideouts, the voices of scary people their father was making business with from other rooms. Him and Envy hiding under a blanket together in his bed, Envy only 5 and him 13, quietly talking about where they’d like to be right now, imagining adventures they’d have. Secretly watching Peter Pan if the hideout had a TV, or reading the book Greed stole, wishing for Peter to come save them too.

Greed imagines what life would be like if they had this childhood instead. A safe home, friends, school, a day at the beach. He watches as the dog wakes up from where she’d been sleeping next to Al and joins the kids in the water. His chest aches and he has to close his eyes briefly to breathe through the pain. It’s not fair. He and Envy were just kids. They deserved a safe, nice childhood, not the one they got.

Their other siblings would probably also be different if they’d had a better parent growing up.  
He thinks of Pride, the oldest, then Wrath, Sloth, Lust, Gluttony. Gluttony is only a year older than Envy, who’s the youngest. Greed would have taken him under his wing too, but Gluttony had always been closer to Lust who’s a year older than Greed himself. And Lust… Well, she’s their father’s perfect little daughter, so she obeys his every word. Sloth is too bored to think for himself and Wrath and Pride wanted to be good sons too.  
So it had always just been Greed and Envy against the world.  
Fuck, he really needs to let go and stop regretting how he left his baby brother behind. It’s no use, he can’t change it anymore. He can’t even go back for him because he’d endanger the kids, and they probably switched hideout places again already.

Shaking himself out of his depressing thoughts, Greed enters the parlour and buys Al strawberry ice cream and himself vanilla.

\----

He and Al eat their ice cream, Al chats a bit about school and how he wants to go to Shiketsu next year, like his brother, and Greed tells him a little about working at UA and helping with hero training. Then he tells Al to go play with the others because he’s going to take a nap.

The kid studies him for a moment before he nods and walks to the water. Greed closes his eyes and relaxes, wishes for the sun to burn away his worries.

He’s at peace for about ten seconds until cold water drips on him and he opens his eyes, cursing.  
Ling is grinning down at him, making grabby hands.  
“Come on, you _have_ to play one round of our game with us.”  
“The one where you sit on each other’s shoulders?”  
“Exactly!”  
“Nope, thanks.”  
“Come on, I don’t have a partner otherwise, Al is teaming up with Ed this time!”

Ling is pulling his best puppy eyes, and Greed sighs deeply.  
“Fucking brat. Fine. But just one game.”  
“Promise!”

Greed grabs Ling’s hands and lets him help him up. He rubs his face and takes off his shirt, then he follows the kid towards the water. Ed is on Al’s shoulders and it amuses Greed to no end.  
“Hello there, smaller brother Edward.”  
“Fuck you, old man.”  
With a smirk, Greed pushes Ed a bit who slaps him.  
“That’s against the rules! You have to be on someone’s shoulders for that!”  
“Well, Ling can’t carry me, so I guess I can’t push you.”

Ed sticks his tongue out and Greed flips him off, then he picks up Ling without warning and puts the squeaking boy onto his shoulders.  
“Okay, go end the blond brats.”  
Ling laughs and dangles his legs until Greed grabs them to hold him safely on his shoulders.

“Let’s start!” Winry calls and then Greed is busy trying to keep himself and Ling from falling over and into the water the next few minutes while the kids yell half-hearted insults as they wrestle with each other.  
Finally there’s a splash of Winry falling, and then it’s just Ed and Ling pushing each other.  
Their banter sounds suspiciously close to flirting and Greed wonders if he should just drop the brat before they start making out, but then Al stumbles and he and Ed hit the water.

Ling cheers and almost sends them both underwater with his fidgeting.  
“Calm down, kid,” Greed says amused and then helps him off his shoulders.  
“We won!”  
“It’s just a stupid game.”  
“We still won though!”  
Rolling his eyes, Greed pets Ling’s wet hair.  
“Better make sure your boyfriend isn’t mad at you.”  
“I’m not,” Ed says and wraps his arms around Ling. “He’s too cute when he’s happy.”

Greed makes gagging noises.  
“Alright, I’m joining the dog at our towels again, this is gross.”  
“You’re just jealous you don’t have someone to be cheesy with, old man,” Ed calls after him.  
“I’m telling Katsuki that you stole his favourite nickname for me!” Greed yells back grinning and throws himself onto his towel. One hand reaches out to pet the dog, the other rubs his face.

“You think the kids are right, Den? Do I also just want someone to be sappy with?”  
He closes his eyes and relaxes, mind wandering to long dark hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greed is a sad boy and I want to give him a hug, then travel back in time and adopt him and Envy as kids and raise them in a loving home.
> 
> Teaser:
> 
> At first Greed thinks it’s a bad joke when Denki calls him and tells him that camp is cancelled because it sounds like he’s trying not to laugh.  
> But then he realises that it’s the opposite. Denki is trying very hard not to cry, and when Greed hears why, he turns to his boss who’s brooding over paperwork while Greed is taking bottles of alcohol out of boxes to take them to the bar in the front later.
> 
> “My brother is in trouble, I need to go.”  
> The man frowns and nods.  
> “Sure, dude. Do you need anything?”  
> He shakes his head.  
> “No, I just… need to go. I don’t know how long this will take, I…”  
> The panic in his voice is growing, and his boss puts a hand on his arm.  
> “Just go. Text me an update, don’t worry about your shifts, we’ll handle it.”  
> “Thank you.”
> 
> Phone still pressed to his ear, Greed runs out through the backdoor.  
> “I’m picking you up from UA. When does your bus arrive?”  
> “I don’t know. I’m sorry, Greed, I…”  
> “It’s okay, I’ll leave now and wait for you. It’ll be okay.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camp goes wrong and Greed is angry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: violence & blood (not described in much detail, but it's there so be safe), murder, cursing  
> Spoiler Warning: camp arc & kamino arc  
> tags:  
> Kaminari Denki Needs a Hug  
> Big Brother Edward Elric  
> Ed is a big brother and it shows
> 
> Ed can be a little shit and a bit of an asshole but he's still a big brother so he can be an angel and is very good at comforting people, change my mind

At first Greed thinks it’s a bad joke when Denki calls him and tells him that camp is cancelled, because it sounds like he’s trying not to laugh.  
But then he realises that it’s the opposite. Denki is trying very hard not to cry, and when Greed hears why, he turns to his boss who’s brooding over paperwork while Greed was taking bottles of alcohol out of boxes to take them to the bar in the front later.

“My brother is in trouble, I need to go.”  
The man frowns and nods.  
“Sure, dude. Do you need anything?”  
He shakes his head.  
“No, I just… need to go. I don’t know how long this will take, I…”  
The panic in his voice is growing, and his boss puts a hand on his arm.  
“Just go. Text me an update, don’t worry about your shift, we’ll handle it.”  
“Thank you.”

Phone still pressed to his ear, Greed runs out through the backdoor.  
“I’m picking you up from UA. When does your bus arrive?”  
“I don’t know. I’m sorry, Greed, I…”  
“It’s okay, I’ll leave now and wait for you. It’ll be okay.”

\----

Greed is pacing back and forth in front of UA. It’s late, but from what he understood from Denki’s tearful voice, there was a villain attack and Katsuki has been taken. Another fucking villain attack. Wasn’t that USJ incident at the beginning of the year? What is UA even doing?  
This fucking League of Villains. He’s going to find them and get Katsuki back on his own and rip everyone’s heart out who tries to stop him.

By the time a bus pulls up to school, more parents have joined him, but he ignores them and rushes forward to yellow-blond hair, pulling Denki into his arms.  
“I’m sorry, just because I failed my exams I wasn’t with him to help,” the boy sobs. Greed tightens his hold on him.  
“Don’t say that. It’s not your fault.”

He catches Aizawa’s eyes over Denki’s head and narrows his eyes. But the teacher looks as desperate and tired as Greed feels, so he smoothes out his facial expression again. It’s not his fault. One teacher can’t fight the whole League of Villains.  
“Denki where is your father?” Aizawa asks when it becomes apparent that Greed isn’t letting go of the boy anytime soon and that Denki doesn’t mind it. Greed answers for him.  
“Not around. He lives with me.”  
“And neither of you thought to mention that to me?”  
“It’s none of your business.”  
“Do you have legal documents that prove you’re allowed to raise him?”  
“His father didn’t want him and let him go to me, I don’t need legal custody. And stop fucking talking to me about pointless bullshit when Katsuki is missing!”  
“So him too?” Aizawa isn’t looking away from him and Greed worries he’s gonna fight him on this now. _Now_ , when they have way better things to do.  
He moves Denki from his chest to his side, holding him close with one arm. He doesn’t fucking care that he’s uncomfortable with so much and so long physical contact and actually wants to let go of Denki, he has to make the kid feel safe, and he now has a teacher to fucking fight too.  
Aizawa seems to guess his thoughts because he raises his hands defensively.  
“We’ll need to talk about this, but not now. You should go home.”  
Greed deflates and nods shortly.  
“Good. You’re not taking them away from me.”

Without waiting for an answer, he turns around and pulls Denki with him.  
“Come on, kid, we have a train to catch. Ling is waiting at home, I didn’t tell him yet what happened so he doesn’t do anything stupid until we’re there.”  
Denki grabs on to his sleeve and doesn’t let go or move away from him the whole way home.

\----

Greed calls Ed on the train and tells him to meet them at their place.  
“It’s fucking late, why the fuck should I do that?”  
“Katsuki has been kidnapped. Ling-”  
“On my way.”

\----

Ed is waiting in front of the apartment door, hair falling open around his shoulders, face tired but anxious. He looks like he was already in bed when Greed called him. It’s a relief that Ling has his boyfriend to support him.  
“I didn’t go in because I didn’t know if you told him yet.”  
“I didn’t. It’s a good thing you waited.”

The second Greed unlocks the door, Ling is in their face. He opens his mouth to say something, then he sees their expressions and stumbles backwards.  
“What happened? Why is Ed here?”  
Denki starts crying again and Greed cringes because Ling looks panicked. Gladly, Ed decides to be an angel then because he walks past them and wraps his arms around Ling.

“Katsuki got kidnapped,” he explains slowly and Ling’s eyes snap to Greed for confirmation. He just nods and a whirl of emotions moves over the kid’s face, starting at disbelief, moving over to panic, fear, sadness, anger, and ends with determination.  
“Who got him? We’ll get him back.”

Greed’s face hardens.  
“No.”  
“What?! But Greed-”  
“No,” he snaps so sharply that Denki who’s still clinging to him, flinches.  
Ling glares at him angrily and Greed motions towards Ed and then Denki with his head. The kid nods understanding and grabs Denki’s arm.  
“Come on, you should wash your hands and face, and drink something.”

As soon as the bathroom door closes behind them, Greed steps to Ling.  
“You will _not_ try to rescue him.”  
“He’s my friend! He’s our family!”  
“I know that, but it’s too dangerous! You’re not a hero yet!”  
“Fuck you! What else am I supposed to do? What if he’s being tortured right now?”

They’ll get a noise complaint from the neighbours with how they’re screaming at each other, but Greed doesn’t care right now.

“Then he’ll make it through! I won’t lose another one of you because you decide to go on a reckless rescue mission!”  
“So you’re just giving him up? You’re abandoning him? Like you did your brother?”  
Greed flinches backwards like Ling slapped him.  
“How do you know about Envy?”  
“You sometimes talk in your sleep.” Ling looks like he regrets mentioning it, but Greed isn’t going to baby him right now.

“Whatever, that has nothing to do with this situation. You’re not going.”  
“You can’t keep me locked up here!”  
“Actually, I can. I’ll lock you in the bathroom until he’s back if I have to!”  
“I hate you!”  
He knows Ling doesn’t mean it. They’re both angry and saying things they shouldn’t say, yet Greed is hurt, and he wants to just shake some sense into the kid, make him understand.  
But he thinks of Denki probably still crying in the bathroom and Ed trying to comfort him, and it helps him push the urge away and keep focusing on words.

Calmer now, he concentrates back on Ling.  
“I’m not letting you go on a rescue mission for Katsuki. You’d get hurt or killed or also kidnapped.”  
“But-”  
“You will stay here and be there for Denki while _I_ go look for him. I have contacts I can use and I’m an adult who knows how to use his quirk properly, and has been training for years. You can best help by just making sure Denki doesn’t blame himself because right now he does. Because he was having his lesson while it happened and he couldn’t help.”

Finally, _finally_ Ling seems to understand his point and nods.  
“Okay… I’m sorry for what I said. I don’t hate you…”  
“It’s okay. We’re all tense right now. But let me handle this. I’m going to get him back. Nobody steals from me.”

Ed and Denki come out of the bathroom then, Ed probably deeming it safe because the yelling stopped. Ling walks to them and hugs Denki.  
“Sorry for yelling. Let’s read that new manga together that we bought, okay? We can do voices again and Ed can judge who makes the better ones.”  
Denki shrugs.  
“Okay…” he mumbles and Greed bites his lip as he watches them walk towards the bedroom.  
“Edward,” he calls and the kid turns around and looks at him.  
“Thank you.”  
Ed nods.  
“Sure. I told my father I’m sleeping over. I’ll make sure they don’t do anything reckless, promise. Just… go find him.”

Greed doesn’t trust people easily, but Edward has his trust, so to hear him promise he’ll look out for the other two, eases some of Greed’s worries.  
“Thanks, kid.”  
Ed grins weakly.  
“Once this mess is over I will however keep insulting you. This changes nothing.”  
With a weak chuckle, Greed takes out his phone.  
“Sure thing, brat. Now go, I have some people to call.”

\----

Greed calls people he never wanted to talk to again, but he has to take this risk of his father finding him if he wants to get a location of the villain hideout. He just hopes enough time has passed and his father doesn’t care about him anymore.

He doesn’t get a clear answer that first day, and eventually goes to sleep on the couch because he needs strength to visit some contacts personally and threaten the information out of them.

\----

The next day is spent visiting way too many shady people, threatening them, punching some wrong people and getting punched in return. One woman stabs him and it’s only thanks to the sandwich he had beforehand that he heals quickly.  
But it was partly a success. He doesn’t have a location, but he has more names who may have one.  
He spends the night tracking those down and once he heads back home it’s only because Ling threatens to also go outside and look for Katsuki if he doesn’t rest at least a few hours.

So now, two days after the kidnapping, they don’t know what the villains did to him during that time, but Greed goes out again and spends the morning yelling at people.

Finally, he talks to a short man with a mouse-like face and big ears who stands proudly for someone who looks absolutely not intimidating. He probably thinks the ten guards in the room with them will save him if something happens. Greed doesn’t fucking care what this guy thinks, he’d reach him quicker than any of the guards could use their quirk.

“I was told you know the location of the League of Villains hideouts because you keep an eye on them for personal gain.”  
“Well, I’m thinking of investing in them, so yes, I may know where they are.”  
“Tell me.”  
“Who are you to give demands like that?”  
Greed bares his teeth in a snarl.  
“Don’t test my patience. Give me the location now and I may let you and your guards live.”  
The man laughs and it tears on Greed’s patience.  
“What business do you have with the League?”  
“They took someone from me, and I want them back,” he hisses.  
“Oh, how sweet. Trying to save your girlfriend who joined them?”  
“You have ten seconds before my patience is over.”  
The guy laughs again and Greed thinks _Fuck it, he doesn’t deserve ten more seconds._ and then he throws himself forward, shield snapping up fully, and wraps his clawed hand around the man’s thin neck.

Bullets bounce off of his back and cheek and he grins manically.  
“I warned you. It looks like I’ll kill your guards and then you. But to make sure you don’t escape, I should probably break your legs first.”  
His other hand comes up, blocking one of the guards who’s attacking him. The mouse-man - he didn’t bother to remember his name - finally seems to realise that Greed is dead serious and starts begging like the coward he is.  
“Too late, you fucked up,” Greed hisses and throws him across the room to have his hands free and snap the first guard’s neck.  
His brain kind of turns off, and by the time it clears again and snaps back into focus, he’s surrounded by ten dead bodies and a lot of blood, the whimpering villain boss sitting with his back pressed against the wall.  
Greed can’t even find it in himself to care though.

“Give me the location of the hideouts, now,” he snaps and approaches the man who’s nodding frantically now.  
“Yes! Yes, I’m so sorry, please don’t hurt me, please don’t actually break my legs! I’ll give you a map! It has all active and inactive hideouts! I promise there’s not one missing, my people did good work!”  
“Where is it?”  
He points at the desk in the corner and Greed stalks there, ripping open the drawers until he finds a map and opens it. There’s circles and crossed out circles.  
“And these are all?”  
When he doesn’t get an answer, he looks up and sees empty clothes where the man had been sitting. Then there’s movement out of the corner of his eye and he sees a tiny naked figure running for the door. So that’s the idiot’s quirk. Shrinking. Well, he shouldn’t have tried to run, he may have let him live then. Now? Definitely not.  
With swift, practiced movement, Greed jumps over the desk, runs to the door and slams his foot down on the guy. The blood that splatters looks like he stepped on a tomato and he would feel sick if he wasn’t in a hurry to check out the locations on the map.

“I’m on my way, Katsuki,” he mumbles and then drops his shield and stuffs the map into his jacket, trying to look innocent as he leaves the building and hurries down the street.

\----

The first location is empty, and he’s buzzing with nerves as he makes his way to the second one. He’s about to get closer and look through a window, when there’s footsteps behind him.  
He spins around, shield rising completely.  
“You,” a familiar voice spits, and the figure steps out of the shadows, and Greed’s chest constricts, cutting off his air.

“Envy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry about that cliffhanger, it just fit so well
> 
> Teaser: (because I'm nice and don't want to fully leave you on a cliffhanger :D)
> 
> “Envy.”  
> His little brother looks different. Instead of the skirts or leggings he used to wear, he’s dressed in leather pants and a crop-top. His hair is held back by a headband, and his face… He looks angry. Greed can’t even blame him.  
> “Envy, what are you doing here?”  
> Envy grins without humour. “Take a wild fucking guess.”  
> “You’re with the League.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Envy vs Greed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: violence, injuries, blood, one scene slightly claustrophobic, panicking but no panic attack, cursing  
> Spoiler warning: Kamino arc/Hideout raid arc
> 
> Decided to be safe and push the rating to M because even though the violence is still tame there's gonna be worse in the future so I'm just gonna already set it to M

_Envy, quirk: Body Mass. He can enhance his body mass up to ten times his actual weight while keeping his physical form unchanged, hiding the difference, and keeping those he attacks unprepared for how strong his punch is going to be. Like his brother, he has a healing quirk, but it is much weaker than Greed’s._

“Envy.”

His little brother looks different. Instead of the skirts or leggings he used to wear, he’s dressed in leather pants and a crop-top. His hair is held back by a headband, and his face… He looks angry. Greed can’t even blame him.

“Envy, what are you doing here?”  
Envy grins without humour. “Take a wild fucking guess.”  
“You’re with the League.”  
“Still the smart one of us, huh?”  
“But why are you doing this? They’re bad people.”  
“Bad people?” The teenager laughs hysterically.  
“Our family are bad people! The League took me in when I had nowhere to go!”  
Before Greed can say something, Envy walks closer and hits him in the chest.  
“Because you just left! Without a word!”  
“I wanted to say goodbye, but…”  
He cringes.  
“But you knew I’d want to come with you, and you were too much of a coward to tell me no to my fucking face,” his brother finishes for him.

It’s the truth, so Greed doesn’t say anything.

“Say something!” Envy yells, then looks around and lowers his voice. Greed perks up at that. It means they’re not alone.  
“I don’t have time for this, I’m sorry. Where is the kid you kidnapped?”  
He doesn’t have time to react before Envy’s fist connects with his jaw. He’s using his quirk, and without his shield his jaw would have shattered.  
“You’re here for that loud brat?!”

Greed is getting angry. He’s wasting time here.

“Yes, and don’t you fucking dare call him brat!”  
“Oh, so what is he to you?”  
“He’s family.” The words taste bitter on his tongue as he’s saying them to Envy. He can see the pain in his little brother’s eyes, and it breaks his heart.  
“Family?” he hisses. “I was your family too before you just left me! Do you know what father did when he found out you left? He thought I was in on it and tried to make me tell him where you are!”  
Greed’s shield drops as he stares at Envy in shock. He hasn’t thought of that.

“Envy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know-”  
“That doesn’t matter! He hurt me, Greed!” There are tears in Envy’s eyes. “You always told me you’d protect me, and then you abandoned me.”  
Greed steps to him and pulls him into a hug. His brother squirms and tries to push him away, but he holds on.  
“Please, I’m sorry, I really am. Come with me. You can stay with me. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”  
“Let go of me!”  
“Envy, come on-”  
“It’s too late!”  
Envy drops himself to the floor, too heavy for Greed to hold on, so he has to let go. The teen stares up at him from where he’s sitting, face contorted in anger.  
“It’s too late to be there for me now. I found my own family.”  
A grin spreads on his lips.  
“And I’m going to hurt your new family now too by making that Bakugou kid scream in pain while I tell him you gave up on him.”

Greed growls in frustration.  
“Don’t make me do this. Don’t make me fight you. You know I always win.”  
“Oh really? We’ll see about that.”  
“Envy, _please_. I don’t want to hurt you.”  
“Well, too bad, because I want you to die.”

Envy gets up swiftly and swings his fist at Greed who blocks it with his arm, shield down. It’s a mistake because he’s using ten times his weight and Greed can feel the bones in his arm shatter. Red lightning fizzes around it, healing them again. His brother is laughing.  
“I hit you! I actually hit you! You’re rusty, Greed.”  
Not willing to die and let Katsuki down, Greed raises his shield fully and stares at Envy, chest hurting.

This is his fault. His selfishness pushed his brother to do this.  
Envy keeps attacking him from the front with the same moves he’s been using since they were kids and started training. They’re easy for Greed to block (despite the only training he had recently being a little sparring with Denki at the beach), and he should fight back, but he can’t make himself.

_You’re wasting time. Who knows what they’re doing with Katsuki right now!_

So, swallowing the bitter taste that rises in his throat, he ducks under the next swing and kicks at Envy. Of course, he doesn’t budge because of his quirk. He has to use his claws, that’s the only way he can defeat Envy. He has to hurt his brother to save Katsuki.  
His eyes are burning as he blocks the kick his brother aims at him, and then scrapes his claws over the teen’s arm.  
Envy hisses in pain and throws himself at Greed, pushing him to the ground. He punches him again and again and again, the shield absorbing each hit. The only part of Greed that’s hurting is his chest, his heart. It’s hurting so badly he can hardly breathe.  
“Envy, stop,” he begs again. “I’m not asking you to forgive me, just please don’t make me hurt you more. I didn’t take you with me because I was scared you’d tell father about my plan, so you gain his approval.”  
That makes Envy pause, and something like understanding shimmers in his eyes.  
“You know… I might have.”  
Then he punches him again and Greed takes it, desperately trying to find a way out of this situation. But Envy is sitting on him, weighing too much to get him off of his chest, and he can’t hurt him with blunt force.  
“I might have, but I might have not. You could have at least asked me. If you told me we’d be okay, I would have believed you and trusted you. There would have been no reason for me to tell father.”  
“But you can’t tell me that you definitely wouldn’t have told him.”  
“No…”  
“So why are you angry with me? I did what I had to do to keep myself safe!”  
“You still left me to be hurt!”  
“Envy, please stop and let me go, we can’t change the past anymore!”  
“I have orders not to let anyone close.”

So he’s here. Greed writhes, trying to get out from underneath Envy again.  
“Envy, please! Come on, I’m begging you, let him go! He didn’t do anything, he doesn’t deserve to be held hostage! Take me instead if you need someone, just let him go!”  
“We don’t need you.”  
“Then let him go and I’ll let you kill me. I’ll drop the shield. Just let him go.”

Greed can’t read the expression on his brother’s face as he pauses in his punching.  
“You’d die for that brat? Why? He’s just a loud asshole.”  
“No, he’s so much more. Please. Let him go.”  
“It is tempting, but I want to hurt you, so killing you isn’t enough. I want you to know that you failed in saving the asshole. I want you to die knowing he’s still with us, hurting and probably scared despite his tough demeanour.”  
Struggling again, Greed screams in frustration and Envy pushes a hand to his mouth.  
“I’d be quiet if I were you. If they hear that someone is here they won’t be happy and let it out on your stray.”  
There’s no time.

He mumbles against Envy’s palm, and the teen pulls his hand away.  
“What was that?”  
“I’m sorry, Envy.” The pain he feels makes his voice shake. “I’m so sorry.”  
Then he swings his hand and his claws rip open his brother’s chest.  
The weight immediately changes to Envy’s normal body mass, and he pushes him off and gets up, trying to move away, but the kid holds on to his leg and pulls, causing Greed to stumble. He spins around and because once of his legs is being held in the air with too much force to pull it out of the grip, he twists his body and leans down, and punches Envy in the face, making him let go.  
“You’re going easy on me, Greed. Trying to get to the brat quickly without too much damage, huh?”

There’s a loud impact and then noises that sound like fighting, and Envy tenses.  
“What? Heroes?”  
He tries to get up, so Greed puts a foot on his injured chest, pressing down. Envy whimpers and stays, staring up at him.  
“Did you bring backup?”  
“No. It seems they found you on their own. They’ll save him.”

Envy blinks a few times before smiling.  
“Well, good luck. He’s not here. There’s just a few Nomus here, if you want to adopt those.”  
“What?!”  
“You should see your face! Tried so hard to not hurt me and then once you do, you find out it was for nothing.”  
“You little…”  
“Yes? Want to hurt me some more?”  
“No! I never wanted to hurt you! Just tell me where the kid is, please.”

He’s never begged so much before, but his brother isn’t leaving him any other chance if he doesn’t want to get the information with violence, and he really doesn’t. Envy is bleeding from the deep cuts in his chest and that’s already making Greed want to throw up.

While he’s trying to come up with a new plan, Envy just watching him from where he’s lying on the ground, the fighting sounds come to a close and he relaxes. Whatever those Nomus are, the heroes got them under control. Now they just need to find Katsuki.

Before he can figure it out, there’s a loud explosion that throws him to the ground, debris falling around them. Without thinking, he keeps his shield up and throws himself over Envy to protect him from any falling rocks.  
A large fragment of a nearby house hits him and he feels it despite his quirk. It knocks the breath out of him, and his arms are shaking from keeping himself up so he doesn’t crush his brother.  
“Greed,” Envy gasps, and reaches out, pushing the boulder to the side with both his hands, probably using his quirk, otherwise it wouldn’t have budged. Greed collapses next to him and stares at the sky, red lightning healing whatever went wrong in his back with the impact. So, if a part of a building falls on him when he’s already kind of tired from being beaten up, his shield can’t fully handle it, good to know.  
“What was that?” he groans.  
“Probably the boss.” Envy sounds shaken. “You saved me. Why?”  
“Because you’re still my brother and I care about you. Who’s the boss? Shigaraki?”  
“No, his mentor.”

“Okay, I don’t really care. Where is the kid? You owe me an answer.”  
“I owe you nothing. We’re even now. You left me, now you saved me. Just leave. He’s not here.”  
“I need to help him. Don’t make me let down another person, you know how it feels. Please, you’re only two years older than him, you have to understand how he’s probably terrified right now.”  
Greed looks over at Envy who is pale, sweat on his forehead. He’s still injured, but there’s no time to help…  
“Do it for the kid.”  
“Fine, he’s-”  
Suddenly, a blast of wind shoots around and Greed rolls over, instinctively covering Envy again, but there’s no more debris, just wind.  
“Stop doing that!” Envy snaps angrily. “Stop trying to protect me!”  
“I won’t,” Greed hisses. “What was that?”  
There’s a booming, familiar voice and the brothers lock eyes.

“All Might.”

\----

Greed jumps up and Envy holds on to his wrist.  
“Stop it!”  
“No, you don’t understand, Shigaraki’s mentor will kill you.”  
“Didn’t you just try to kill me?”  
Envy looks away.  
“I knew I couldn’t actually kill you.”  
“Oh, so you just had to take out your anger?”  
“Obviously!”  
“You little-”

There’s another crash and Greed freezes when he hears a voice call All Might’s name.  
With unexpected strength, he wrenches his hand free from Envy’s grip and runs towards Katsuki’s voice.  
He can see blond hair through a broken wall ahead of him, when a weight collides with him and slams him face-first into the floor, nose breaking because he instinctively lowered his shield.  
“Stay down,” Envy hisses angrily. “For some stupid reason I’m trying to save your pathetic life.”  
Through the cracks in the wall Greed sees All Might return, but he’s busy fighting that guy in the black suit. Katsuki is surrounded by villains.

When the kid starts fighting the villains all at once except for the guy All Might is up against, Greed tries to push Envy away. He bites his hand, needs to call out for Katsuki, but Envy keeps it pressed to his mouth, using his quirk to prevent him from getting up.  
Panic is filling every limb of him, and he has never before felt so powerless.  
His mind tries to detach itself from his body so he doesn’t have to feel like this any longer. He’s not claustrophobic, but not being able to move or speak, having to watch his kid fight for his life…  
He wriggles again and makes a keening sound in the back of his throat.  
“I can’t let you go, you’d die. Just… look away. They won’t kill him, they want him alive.”  
Greed can’t just look away. His eyes are glued to Katsuki as he blasts and dodges, face glistening with sweat. His hand that Envy isn’t holding down since he needs one hand for his mouth, desperately reaches, but he can’t help. He can’t. Not unless he…  
The shield covers his hand and his stares at his claws, then looks at Envy. His brother’s eyes are wide with fear, but also filled with determination.  
“You left me because you thought I’d betray you. I gotta prove to you that you were wrong and just an asshole for leaving me. I’m not letting you get yourself killed.”

Clawed hand shaking, he holds it between them, the fighting sounds continuing behind them. He still can’t speak, but even if he could, he wouldn’t call out to Katsuki. He’d just ask one question, one question that nobody can answer for him:  
_What am I supposed to do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, what is Greed supposed to do there, huh? Making a decision between two people he cares about is hard  
> Also, I hope you see what I see: That Envy isn't evil, he's just hurt and scared and he found a family in the League after Greed abandoned him. Frankly, Envy deserves better.  
> If you want extra sad:  
> This song is Envy after Greed left him, especially the part at 1:45  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryT512TA4nA
> 
> After some contemplation I have decided that there's no teaser today for the sake of dramatics, I hope you can forgive me!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katsuki's rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing  
> Spoiler Warning: Kamino Arc/Hideout Raid Arc  
> tags:  
> Bakugou Katsuki Needs a Hug  
> Bakugou Katsuki Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
> 
> I am so sorry for not posting yesterday, I had a lot going on  
> My friend told me posting daily is too much anyways, especially for those of you who comment on every chapter because commenting daily is exhausting, so I want to ask if you think I should change my schedule to posting twice a week or so, or if you want to stick with daily chapters (I may have to slow down to a chapter every two days if I run out of pre-written chapters, but that's only if that happens, I'll try not to let it happen, rn I have enough pre-written)

Greed can feel his eyes burning as he keeps them locked with Envy’s. He doesn’t know what to do. Envy is trembling where he’s sitting on his chest. He thinks Greed will kill him.  
And the worst thing is that Greed knows he needs to at least hurt him badly, otherwise he can’t get to Katsuki.

Before he can make his decision, there’s weird noises. At first he thinks it’s just All Might crashing into something again, but then there’s a sound he can’t quite place, and looks back at the villains. There is ice, and there’s kids sliding over it and then flying through the air. Then there’s a shout and Katsuki blasts himself into the sky and grabs the hand of one of the kids, a boy with red hair.  
_Kirishima._  
Greed is so relieved he could cry as he watches them fly further away and the villains fail to follow. All the fight leaves him. If Envy wants to kill him now, he’ll let him.

But the weight leaves his chest and he turns to his brother.  
“Leave.”  
“What?” He blinks at Envy, confused.  
“Just go, quick! You were never here.”  
“Then who hurt you?”  
“Some hero, whatever, I’ll make something up, just go!”  
Greed bites his lip.  
“You could still come with me, you know?”  
Envy shakes his head. “No… I belong here. Just leave before I change my mind. Go to the brat, he’ll need you or whatever. Don’t you dare let them down like you did with me, you owe it to me and them to be there for them!”  
Nodding, Greed ruffles Envy’s hair and then runs, as fast as he can, to go find Katsuki.  
“Stay safe,” he mumbles, knowing his brother can’t hear him anymore, and then he ducks into the street and makes his way through people to catch up to the kids.

\----

It takes him almost an hour to find Katsuki in front of a police station, arms wrapped around himself, staring at the floor. There’s a police officer nearby, and Greed doesn’t pause, just pulls Katsuki into his arms, holding him tightly.  
The kid tenses for a moment before recognising him and grabbing on to the back of his shirt, pressing into the hug.  
“Who are you?” the police guy asks.  
“I’m his brother. Can I take him home now?”  
The guy narrows his eyes and Greed is ready to fucking explode.  
“Listen, my brother has been kidnapped and in the hands of villains for two damn days, he’s exhausted and needs a shower and something to eat, so unless you have a good reason to keep him here, I’m taking him with me right now.”  
“Please calm down, Sir.”  
“How can you ask me to calm down when I spent two days fearing for my brother’s life?”  
Finally, the officer sighs and nods.  
“I understand… If we have more questions, we’ll contact you, Bakugou-san.”  
Greed doesn’t bother to correct him on the name, just nods and detaches Katsuki from himself. It’s kind of weird that they’re just sending the kid with him when he didn’t even prove to them that they’re related. Do they just not care enough about some random teen? Would they have let anyone take him? He’s furious, but he knows that at this moment the lack of concern from the police benefits them, so he swallows his anger and focuses on Katsuki.

“Let’s go home,” he says quietly, and the kid nods, face tense, like he’s trying not to break down in public. Greed bets they didn’t give him a break at the police station either, instead asking a bunch of questions.  
Because of all the people that are still crowding the streets, it takes them another half an hour until they’re finally on the train. Katsuki stares out the window, and even though he looks dead on his feet, he doesn’t sleep.

\----

Greed quietly unlocks the door and they walk inside. The living room is empty, which means Ling, Denki and Ed are probably sleeping in the bedroom.  
“Go take a shower, I’ll make you something to eat.”  
“Can I drink something first?”  
This is the first time Katsuki is speaking since all of the events, and his voice sounds scratchy.  
“Didn’t they give you anything at the police station?”  
He just shakes his head, and Greed wants to go back there and yell at them all. Instead, he grabs a glass from the cupboard and fills it with water, handing it to the kid who drains it in a few large gulps.

“Hey, Katsuki?”  
The boy turns around, halfway to the bathroom.  
“You’re safe now. I’m making sure of that.”  
Some of the tension leaves Katsuki’s face and he nods.  
“I know, old man,” he snaps, but it’s far away from his usual snark.

When Katsuki is in the bathroom, Greed sneaks into the bedroom and grabs him some clean clothes. The other kids are sleeping cuddled up on the bed, just like he expected. Ed is holding Ling in his arms, Denki is curled up against Ling’s back. He’s glad they had each other over the course of these days.  
Tearing his eyes away from the peaceful scene there, he leaves the room again, knocks on the bathroom and puts the clothes on the floor in front of the door.

Then, Greed prepares two sandwiches and cuts an apple into slices. After probably not eating anything for two days, this will be the easiest for Katsuki to eat, at least he hopes so.

He doesn’t look up when the door opens and closes again as the kid grabs the clothes a few minutes later, only when it opens fully and he steps out.  
Greed grabs the plate and the refilled glass of water and walks to the sofa where they sit down together.  
Katsuki takes one of the sandwiches when Greed holds the plate to him, but he just nibbles on the crust.

“Are you injured?”  
“No…”  
“Okay. How do you feel?”  
“I’m okay.”  
“Let’s try again.”  
He keeps his voice as kind as he can. (His brain helpfully reminds him of the people he either intimidated, hurt or killed these past 48 hours, but he pushes it away. He can be kind for the kids.)

“I feel like shit,” Katsuki chokes out and puts the sandwich down. "All Might told me I did a good job staying strong… But I don't feel like I did. He didn't even ask if I was okay… And then… the fight…”  
Greed grits his teeth.  
"That fucker… Well, I'm asking you. I'm listening. You can talk to me." 

Katsuki is silent for a few moments before speaking up again. 

“They treated me like a criminal.”  
“Those are crazy villains, don’t listen to them.”  
“Not the villains. The police.”  
Greed’s eyebrows shoot up and he turns to look at Katsuki.  
“What?”  
“They handcuffed me and asked me questions about the League. They thought I might have joined them or something. Or that I was with them in the first place and the kidnapping was staged.”  
“Oh I’m going to fucking murder them,” Greed growls. Then he puts his hands on Katsuki’s shoulders.  
“You were a victim. Don’t listen to those incompetent assholes who couldn’t even save you. Your friends had to do that.”  
“How do you know that?” Katsuki asks, eyes narrowed. “I didn’t tell you about that yet.”

Greed stares and wants to slap himself. Well, fuck. Does he tell him the truth or not?  
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” the kid snaps, and Greed sighs.  
“Fine… But... “ He’s feeling nervous. Katsuki will find out that he’s not a good person at all, even if he just tells him about running into his brother. His mind is starting to wave goodbye again, trying to get out of the situation. He pinches himself roughly to stay focused.

The kid is now anxious too.  
“How bad is that story?” he asks slowly.  
Greed decides that Katsuki is the most mature of the kids. He can handle the truth the best… Maybe not the whole truth, but most of it.  
“Pretty bad,” he admits. “I’m not a good person, Katsuki…”  
“But not a bad one either.”  
“That’s actually debatable…”  
“Just fucking tell me.”  
“Okay… But first promise me that you won’t feel bad. I made those decisions on my own and I would have made them for any of you kids, this is not on you. It’s all on me.”

And then he tells him about the last two days. He leaves out the murder because he doesn’t have to burden the kid with that secret. He also doesn’t say any names, just that he visited a bunch of contacts from his father who’s also a criminal, and finally got the map of hideouts after threatening enough people.

Then he tells him about fighting Envy and about Envy holding him back, how he wanted to help but couldn’t. His skin itches as he remembers being held down, not able to speak.

Katsuki is silent during the whole story, but he shifts closer so their arms are pressed together when Greed’s voice starts shaking as he talks about hurting his brother.  
When he’s done, they sit in silence until Katsuki grabs an apple slice and chews on it slowly.

“You’re pretty fucked up.”  
“I know. Thanks, kid.”  
“But I understand why you left him. And why you fought him. You didn’t have much of a choice. Sometimes you have to be selfish to look out for yourself I guess.”  
“Maybe, yes.”

He sighs and leans his head against Katsuki’s and closes his eyes.  
“What did they do during the time they had you?”  
“They mostly kept me sedated or tried to talk me into joining. Slapped me twice or so because I annoyed them. Other than that, I’m fine. Which one’s your brother?”  
“The one with the long hair and headband.”  
“Oh. He was weird, but he never hit me and seemed to like my attitude.”  
“That's Envy, yeah…”

There’s silence for a while until Katsuki has eaten the apple slice and sips some water. Then, he relaxes again against Greed’s side.  
“Thanks for trying so hard to save me… I… I actually didn’t expect that.”  
“Are you kidding me? I would fucking die in a heartbeat for you brats.”  
“That’s… good to know. But don’t fucking die, old man.”  
“Not actually planning on it.”

He puts an arm around the kid and for once he doesn’t feel totally uncomfortable because he needs to make sure Katsuki is really here and that that wasn’t just a very vivid dream.  
Knowing his neck will hurt in the morning, he falls asleep, sitting there on the couch, the kid next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're not sure why Envy did what he did, fear not for there will be a side chapter spin off thing with POV Envy either next chapter or the one after that!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post Kamino stress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing, mention of claustrophobia  
> Spoiler Warning: post-kamino dorm situation (not really spoilers though)
> 
> Thank you all so so much for your feedback to my question about the uploading schedule! You were all so sweet!!  
> I'll keep it at daily uploads for now because I have 7.5 chapters pre-written and have time to write a bunch today and the next days, so right now I can easily keep up with uploading daily unless I once don't find time to beta the chapter and upload it like two days ago, but that hopefully won't happen again!

Greed wakes up a few times that night because Katsuki doesn’t sleep well, but they make it through to the morning eventually. It’s early when they get up because they decide together that trying to get more sleep right now just won’t work.

Katsuki is making coffee in the kitchen while Greed sets the table, when the bedroom door opens and then Denki yells Katsuki’s name and throws himself at him, hugging him tightly. Because of the noise, Ling and Ed follow quickly and Ling joins the hug, Ed leaning against the fridge, waiting.  
Eventually Katsuki starts to squirm, and Greed steps in.  
“Okay, brats, enough, let him breathe. Go set the table, we’re having breakfast together.”  
Ling complains and Denki pouts, but they let go of Katsuki and start putting plates onto the table.

Ed walks up to Katsuki now and grins at him.  
“Glad you’re back, angry boy.”  
“What are you even doing here, bean?”  
“Kept an eye on your friends, asshole.”  
“Well, thanks for that, bastard.”

“Language, kids,” Greed snaps amused.  
“Fuck you, old man.” Katsuki grins at him, and Greed rolls his eyes. He’s glad the idiot is back.

\----

Three exhausting days after getting Katsuki back, Greed is sitting on the couch, trying to focus on Ling who’s chatting about a book he borrowed from the library and is reading with Denki. Denki and Katsuki are napping in the bedroom.  
Because Katsuki still can’t sleep well at night he started taking short naps during the day. He doesn’t admit to it out loud, but they all know he doesn’t really want to be alone right now, so someone always either sits with him or takes the nap with him. The bedroom door is open so Katsuki doesn’t feel too claustrophobic to sleep. The constant noise of Ling’s voice probably also helps keep him calm.

Greed has to go to work at the bar soon. He’s glad he even still has the job after not contacting his boss for the two days Katsuki was gone, but his boss is a rather nice man, so he forgave Greed after he told him that his brother got in big trouble and needed him.

Ling’s chatter stops and Greed frowns at him.  
“The door. Did you invite someone?”  
The frown deepens and he shakes his head and gets up. He hasn't even heard the knock, too lost in thoughts.  
A glance through the spyhole has him confused and he waves a hand at Ling.  
“Go into the bedroom and close the door. Don’t come out until I tell you to and don’t let the others out either.”  
Ling looks nervous, but Greed is glad that he trusts him enough to obey without questioning him.  
When he hears the bedroom door shut, he takes a deep breath and then unlocks the front door, opening it to Aizawa.

“If you’re not here to ask me out on a date, leave,” he says, trying to stay calm and collected.  
“Where are Denki and Bakugou?”  
“He doesn’t like being called Bakugou anymore.”  
“Fine. Where are Denki and the problem child?”  
“Why would I tell you that?”  
“Because I’m here on official school business.”

Greed looks him up and down, realising that he looks like it, all cleaned up in a suit and with his hair tied back. Aizawa cleans up well as it seems. He’s pretty damn hot, and if Greed’s brain wasn’t preoccupied with worrying about the kids, he’d hit on him again. But as it is, there are things that are more important than getting into Aizawa’s pants.

“You can discuss it with me.”  
The teacher looks tired, but he just nods, so Greed steps aside and lets him in.  
They sit on the crappy couch, and Greed feels momentarily embarrassed by this place before he pushes the feeling away. This doesn’t matter. The kids are all that matter.

“So, what is this official business?”  
“You’re not going to offer me coffee or water?”  
“No. Why are you here?”  
“I would really like to discuss this with my students present.”  
“I fucking told you-”

“Let me out, body snatcher!” The yell comes from the bedroom. “You can’t keep me in here! Greed knows I don’t like the door closed!”  
“I told you there’s someone here and he said to stay in here!”

Greed pinches the bridge of his nose. Of course Katsuki had to wake up.  
“Who’s that third voice?” Aizawa asks, but he ignores him and walks to the bedroom, opening the door. Katsuki’s eyes are wide where he’s standing by the window and Greed waves him over.  
“It’s okay, come out.”  
The kid rushes past him into the small hallway that connects the kitchen and living room and breathes deeply. Greed follows and studies him.  
“You okay? Sorry, brat, I thought you’d sleep a bit longer.”  
“I’m fine,” Katsuki snaps and then straightens his posture and looks to the living room, narrowing his eyes.  
“Why the fuck is he here?”  
“We were just about to get to that part.”

Katsuki grimaces. “On second thought, I think I’ll rather suffer through my claustrophobia than watch that.”  
“What the fuck? It’s not like that! He’s here because of school bullshit. Denki, come here, he insists you two listen.”

Denki joins them and he and Katsuki stay standing even as Greed sits back next to Aizawa, keeping some distance.  
“You’re not trying to take us away from here, are you?” Denki asks, frowning.  
“I should. Greed doesn’t have legal authority to keep you here with him. But you two have been in a better mood for a while, and even though this place doesn’t look perfect, he seems to be taking good care of you.”

Greed crosses his arms. Of course he fucking is.  
“So why are you here then?” Katsuki asks, still suspicious.  
Aizawa starts a speech that sounds like he’s delivered it a bunch of times already about a dorm system at UA to keep the students safe from future villain attacks.

“Oh, so UA thinks they can keep them safer than I can even though the only times they were in danger was with your school?” Greed asks icily. He doesn’t like the thought of the school trying to take the kids away from him even if it’s nothing permanent.  
“Greed, I understand your concern-”  
“Drop the fucking polite teacher act and tell me why the fuck I should agree to this? Remember the sports festival? Because I fucking do. Did you hear that Katsuki has claustrophobia? Yeah, your school was the one that chained him up anyways.”  
“Greed,” Katsuki starts, but Greed ignores him.  
“That USJ incident was also on a school trip, wasn’t it? And then you couldn’t keep Katsuki safe at that camp either. So why should I say yes?”

“You’re not their parent, you have no right to talk like that,” Aizawa says coldly.  
Greed explodes. 

“Oh, so who has been paying for them for school, food and other shit those past, what is it, almost two months? Who was there for them when they needed someone to comfort them despite being pretty shitty at it? Who gave them hugs despite being fucking uncomfortable with physical contact? Who spent two days barely sleeping to track down the League hideout and had to watch his kid fight villains alone because he couldn’t get to him in time?! Who picked him up from the police station and almost had to fight an officer so he could even take him with him? Who finally asked him how he's doing after fucking All Might just complimented him on staying strong instead of asking a fucking teenager if he’s okay after 48 hours with a bunch of villains?!”

Greed has gotten to his feet while yelling and there’s knocking on the floor from their downstairs neighbours. He ignores them.  
“Does that not sound like a fucking parent to you, _Aizawa?_ Someone who cares about them, who worries about them, who fucking loves them to death and would give their life for them in a heartbeat?”

The teacher has the decency to look ashamed, and Greed is trying to calm himself down from that outburst.  
“Greed?”  
He hadn’t even noticed when Ling had joined them in the living room, but he looks at the boy next to him, who has tears in his eyes.  
“Yeah, kid?” he asks, voice rough from screaming.  
“I love you too. Can I give you a hug?”  
Greed waves his hand and pulls the boy into his arms.  
“Fuck. I did not want to say any of that.”  
“Well, you did, old man.”  
Kind of nervous about his reaction, Greed looks over at Katsuki, whose face is blank. But there’s a little smile playing around his lips.  
“I’m not gonna be all sappy like Smiley there, but… Yeah. We care about you too, asshole.”  
Denki is just nodding quickly, seemingly lost for words. That’s a weird sight.

Greed clears his throat and gently shoves Ling off of him.  
“Alright, go sit in the bedroom while I discuss this with their teacher. Katsuki, Denki, do you want to move into dorms?”  
“I mean… kind of,” Denki admits. “It would be really cool to live with our friends.”  
Katsuki just shrugs.  
“Okay, let us talk alone. Open the window so the brat is okay, and if it’s not enough, open the door,” he tells Ling who nods and then the kids leave.  
With a deep sigh, Greed falls back onto the couch and rubs his face.

“That was quite the outburst.”  
“Happens when you’re seriously sleep deprived and bottle up your emotions daily and then some asshole is trying to tell you you're not a parent.”  
“Listen, Greed, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You are their parent. It’s pretty obvious, seeing how you treat them and how they act around you.”  
“Yeah… I meant what I said even though I shouldn’t have said it.”  
“You worry about them. That’s why you don’t want them at the dorms?”  
“Yes. But I also worry about Ling. He’s going to be lonely… At least I see them while I’m at work during the day, but he won’t see them at all anymore.”  
“What school does he go to?”  
“Shiketsu, first year… he wanted to go to UA, but his father didn’t let him, and I have no idea if it’s possible to switch schools just like that.” He glances over at Aizawa. “Or if I even want to send him there.”

Aizawa is silent for a bit, not replying, so Greed gets up and makes them coffee after all. This may take a while because he’s torn once again, for multiple reasons.

“Thanks,” the teacher says when he hands him one of the mugs and sits back down.  
“I understand why you don’t trust the school. We think there’s a traitor among staff or students.”  
Greed’s eyebrows shoot up.  
“I bet you didn’t tell any other parents about that.”  
“No.”  
“Then why me?”  
Their eyes meet.  
“I’m not sure.”

Greed laughs. “Don’t tell me it’s because I’m not like the other girls. That I’m special.”  
“Oh shut up,” Aizawa snaps.  
“You know, if telling me secret info about your school is your way of flirting, it’s pretty weird, even for me. Not that you don’t look totally hot right now, but I’m not in the mood after everything that has been said today.”  
“I’m not flirting with you. I’m just trying to give you all the information I have so you can judge the situation properly.”  
“Huh. Interesting. Continue.”  
He watches him with his legs crossed, sipping his coffee.

“As I said, we suspect that there’s a traitor. Someone who told the League where the camp would be. And Nedzu thinks that by having students and teachers at dorms we can figure out who it is easier while also keeping a close eye on everyone to keep them safe.”  
Aizawa puts the untouched coffee on the table next to the sofa and focuses back on Greed.

“To be completely honest with you, I’m not sure if this will work.”  
Greed is too stunned by the honesty to reply.  
“Sure, we can keep a closer eye on them, but we also give the traitor more opportunities to sneak around for information at night.”  
“Isn’t your headmaster rat supposed to be super smart?”  
“He is. So we have to trust him.”  
“You don’t sound like you do.”  
“I’m not sure if I do.” He speaks very quietly now, even quieter than before. Maybe he doesn’t want the kids to eavesdrop.  
“So why should I send my kids to those dorms if you’re not even sure if they’re safe?”  
“They’re safe, I can promise you that. I just don’t know if they’re truly the right way to go about this. The students will be protected inside by multiple security measures, nobody can get into the buildings unauthorised, not even if the traitor tries to let a villain in. They can just give information to the outside, and I’m planning on figuring out who it is before they can do that. But I doubt it will be easy.”

Greed nods slowly, processing the words.  
“So you’re saying that the kids will be safe inside the dorms and in school, but that when the wrong information gets out they can still get in danger, and that with the dorms, information can be found easier.”  
Aizawa nods. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”  
Tired of complicated decisions, Greed leans his head back against the couch and grabs the mug tighter, hand wrapping around its still pretty hot bottom half. His eyes watch as the red lightning heals the light burns from it.

“Greed,” Aizawa says, and Greed looks up at the way he says it. It’s… different than usually. Feels almost private. He raises his eyebrows in question.  
“I understand your worries, I do. I also have a kid.”  
“You do?”  
“One of the students lives with me. Legally. So I do understand where your concern is coming from. But your kids want to be heroes, and UA is one of the best schools for that. We will do everything to keep them safe so they can have time to work towards that. If anything ever happens you’ll be notified. But just like you would give your life for them, I’m also willing to do anything to keep my students safe. I don’t know how much you know about USJ, but I tried my hardest to keep them all alive.”  
“You were in a full-body cast at the sports festival, weren’t you?”  
“Yeah, that was from USJ. I know I couldn’t save your kid at camp, but I tried.”

Greed chews on his lip and sighs, taking a large gulp of hot coffee before nodding.

“I believe you. You have this… look in your eyes. So you’ll do anything to keep them safe? And you’ll keep me updated on your traitor search?”  
“I promise.”  
“Fine… I don’t trust you. Not fully. But I don’t _not_ trust you either. So… Fine. Katsuki and Denki can stay in the dorms. But that doesn’t solve the problem with Ling…”

“You know, it is quite easy to switch schools if you have the recommendation of a pro-hero,” Aizawa says after a moment of silence.  
Greed huffs.  
“Oh, easy, so we just ask one of the many pro-heroes I know.”  
“Well, you know one.”  
Eyebrows raised, he looks at Aizawa.  
“You’d recommend him to your school?”  
“Why not? If he’s any good? And I owe it to you, to show you that you can trust UA. Or at least me.”  
“Hm. You do definitely owe me, especially for that no parent comment. I won’t let you live that down anytime soon. And he’s very good. His close combat skills rival my own and his quirk is pretty damn useful.”  
“What is it?”  
“Ling, come here for a moment,” Greed yells and there’s footsteps and then Ling is throwing himself on the couch between them, a bright smile on his face that’s so clearly fake, Greed wonders if Aizawa notices too. The kid is scared of being left alone here once Katsuki and Denki are in the dorms and Greed is working so much.

“Explain your quirk to Mr. Aizawa.”  
“Why?”  
“You’ll find out.”  
“Well, okay, so I call it Merging but Greed said Absorbing would fit better because that’s what it feels like. I can merge my body with someone I have an emotional bond with, so like friendship or love, and then I can combine our skills and use their quirk, but I don’t know if my body can handle any quirk because it’s still my body.”  
“How long can you stay merged?” Aizawa asks, voice tired, but with some curiosity shining through.  
“I don’t know, I only ever merged with my cousin and Greed.”  
"So you didn't merge in school during training?"  
"I don't have a bond with any of my classmates. My boyfriend is in a different class."  
“And what about here? You never wanted to try out the quirks of Denki and the problem child?”  
“Well sure, but I’m kind of scared of Denki’s quirk, and I don’t know if I have an emotional bond with Katsuki… And it could blow my hands off, so… better not.”  
“Well, at UA you’d have to try out things that scare you too. Are you prepared to do that?”  
“At UA?”

Ling looks at Greed confused and Greed grins even though his stomach churns uncomfortably with some leftover worries.  
“I’m trying to get you into UA so you can move into the dorms with the other two brats and so you can graduate from the school you want to graduate from.”  
“But you’ll have to pay for me too then! Father will find out and I’ll be officially thrown out!”  
Greed shrugs.  
“I know. I’m willing to do that.”  
The kid seems close to tears for a moment, then a look of determination sets on his face.  
“I won’t disappoint you. I’ll study hard and train to be the best I can be.”  
Chuckling, Greed pats his back.  
“I know you will. So, Aizawa, how does this work?”  
“I’d like to train with him personally once or twice and also see his quirk in action to be fully sure, but it does sound interesting. You most likely won’t get into class A though. I’m expelling a student, but I already have one to replace him with. I can however talk to the class B teacher and see if you can get a spot in there. There’s a student in that class with a similar quirk to yours, you might get along.”  
“I don’t care in what class I’ll be, as long as it’s UA.” Ling sounds excited.

“You’re transferring the body snatcher to UA?”  
Greed sighs.  
“Didn’t I tell you to wait in the bedroom?”  
“Yes, but I don’t like to be told what to do. So, is he transferring or not?”  
“We’ll try,” Greed says firmly, looking at Katsuki, then back at Aizawa.  
“If he gets into UA, I’ll agree to the dorm situation without giving you trouble.”  
“Don’t blackmail them into accepting me!” Ling says shocked.  
“I’m not. If you don’t get in, I’m still agreeing, but then I want the brats to come home over weekends so you can still hang out with them.”  
Aizawa nods.  
“That’s possible. Then here’s the paperwork you have to fill out.”  
“Even though I’m not their legal guardian? Do I forge the signature?”  
“No. Just… Sign as yourself. As secretary you’ll be handling the paperwork anyways, so nobody else should see them. I can explain the situation to Nedzu if he finds out and wants to know. It’ll be fine.”

As Greed said, he doesn’t trust Aizawa completely yet, but he has no choice, so he nods and takes the offered stack of papers and the pen and starts reading and filling out stuff.

“Ling, how about you come to the UA gym tomorrow with someone you can merge with so I can take a look at your skill level?” Aizawa says and Ling nudges Greed.  
“Hey, can I go?”  
“I told you, you can make your own plans, just tell me when you’ll be where.”  
“Okay, then I’ll go. I think I’ll bring Ed. We never merged, but his quirk won’t cause any damage to my body.”  
“I want to come watch,” Denki says and Aizawa shrugs.  
“I couldn’t care less if you do.”  
“Fine, then I’m coming too,” Katsuki decides.  
“Great, have fun with all the brats, I’ll be enjoying my quiet afternoon,” Greed says and grins, showing his teeth. He signs the last paper and hands it back to Aizawa.  
“If there’s no other pressing matters, I’d now politely ask you to leave because I have work soon, and Katsuki was in the middle of a nap.”  
“Stop babying me!” the brat snaps, and Greed chuckles.

Aizawa gets up.  
“No, that would be all. I’ll contact you with the details when they’ll move into the dorms and what they’ll need to bring.”  
Greed follows him to the door and steps out into the hallway with him.  
“You think Ling will get in?”  
“I don’t see why not if he’s as good as you say.”  
“He is.”  
“Then trust him to convince me.”  
“Fine. Now fuck off. Next time you’re here it’s better to ask me out. And it better be an expensive date that you're fully paying for to make up for your bullshit today.”  
With an eye roll, the teacher turns around and leaves. Greed leans against the closed door and shuts his eyes.  
What a fucking day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I think you all know who lives with Aizawa, who got expelled and who's getting into 1A :D  
> About all the legal stuff, let's just keep in mind it's still a fanfic, and also Greed can't really get legal custody quickly so Aizawa is just letting them be for now because he knows what it's like to save kids from a bad household and even though he has legal custody, he knows it's not easy to get it
> 
> You can pick what chapter you want to see tomorrow, both are not POV Greed, so they're both side story spin off chapters, the one you don't want tomorrow gets uploaded in two days :D  
> a) Envy & the League of Villains (post fight with Greed, feat. a surprise character none of you expect)  
> b) Ling's training with Aizawa (feat. Edling being amazing together)
> 
> Btw if anyone wants to read my thoughts I have while writing (with sometimes very light spoilers as in i mention characters that haven't showed up yet with how far we are in the posted story) they can follow my Twitter @xLivesInBooks  
> I also tweet other bullshit, so yeah :D  
> (also, there's a lot of gushing about how happy all your comments make me)


	19. Edling vs. Aizawa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing, training fight (no injuries and not very detailed)
> 
> I am not good at writing fight scenes, so this is shorter than it could have been had I described training more, but I hope it's still satisfactory and that you like it and can imagine the scenes

Ling is nervous and bounces a bit in his seat, eyes focused on the outside world rushing past the train window. He’s holding his boyfriend’s hand tightly and can feel Denki and Katsuki watching him.  
“So I just clap my hands and imagine what the object looks like?”  
“Yeah, don’t worry, you can hear me in your head, can’t you? I’ll coach you through it.”  
“And if it doesn’t work, you can merge with one of us to try it!” Denki says. “Recovery girl is there in case it hurts your body.”  
“That’s not really very comforting…”  
“Don’t listen to them, Smiley, you’ll do fucking fine.”

Hand clutching his chest, Ling turns his head and leans closer to Katsuki, a wide smile on his face.  
“Aww, I love you too, Kat.”  
“Shut the fuck up.”  
“Language,” Greed snaps, returning from his stroll through the compartment to check if any suspicious people are here with them.  
Ling smiles at him, chest warm. Greed is being really protective over all of them recently and it makes him feel safe. Before he met Greed (and then Ed), nobody had ever really bothered to protect him or was around for that, since Lan Fan doesn't visit often.  
But now he has a person in his life that's both a big brother and father figure who actually loves and cares for him. It's pretty amazing.

"Tell me again why we can't go to UA on our own?" Katsuki asks, annoyed. Ling huffs. He doesn't mind it, but of course the blond would.  
"Because I'm not taking any chances anytime soon. I wanted to check out some possible apartments anyways, so it makes sense for me to come with you."  
"You don't have to baby us, old man."  
"Well, but I'm going to do exactly that, so shut the fuck up."  
"Language yourself, asshole," Katsuki snaps, and Ling kicks his leg.  
"Just drop it," he begs. "I'm nervous enough without you fighting the whole train ride." 

Ed leans into his side and runs his normal hand over Ling's hair while his prosthetic one keeps holding on to Ling's hands.  
"You'll do great, idiot," he mumbles gently.  
"Why do I keep finding myself around people who use insults to show affection?" Ling asks amused.  
"It's the best way to show affection." Ed shrugs grinning and tilts Ling's face, kissing him.  
"Stop being gross, bean boy," Katsuki snaps, and Ed pushes his tongue into Ling's mouth just to spite him.

But that causes Ling to start laughing, and they have to end the kiss. Ed flips off Katsuki who looks pleased that they stopped their PDA.  
Denki has been suspiciously quiet, so Ling focuses his attention on his best friend.  
He's staring out the window, looking absent, the only movement coming from his leg that's bouncing up and down at a rapid pace.  
"Hey, Denki, you okay?"  
Yellow eyes snap over to him and he blinks a few times.  
"Yeah, sorry, kind of zoned out after Greed came back. What's up?"  
"Nothing, just wanted to make sure you're still with us." 

Greed, who's sitting next to Denki, looks over at him now.  
"Anything bothering you?"  
"Well…"  
"Spit it out, kid."  
Denki bites his lip and looks torn, then he shakes his head.  
"Just thinking…"  
"Denki," Greed starts, but Katsuki of all people cuts him off.  
"Leave him the fuck alone. If he doesn't want to tell you, he doesn't have to." 

With a frown, Greed nods, and Ling can see concern on his face. He just wants to make sure they're all okay. But Katsuki is right, they can't force Denki to talk to them.

\----

Greed drops them off at UA and then leaves to go look at the possible new apartment options.

Aizawa waits for them at the school gates and they follow him to the gym after introducing Ed.  
In the changing rooms of the gym, Ling changes into his hero costume: loose white pants and an open yellow jacket.  
Katsuki and Denki who have never seen it before, frown.  
" _That's_ your hero costume?" Katsuki asks incredulously.  
Ed chuckles, hands on his hips, having changed into his own which are black pants, a black shirt and a red coat and his boots from before.

"Yours doesn't look very practical either," Denki comments.

"Well, I can fight with it and it looks cool, so I don't care what you think," Ed snaps, petting his coat like Denki personally offended it.  
Ling knows he's very attached to that piece of fabric. 

"Why the fuck aren't you wearing any shoes?" Katsuki snaps and Ling takes his slippers out of his bag, putting them on.  
"I am."  
"Those barely count as shoes."  
"I can move around well in them, so screw you."  
"Yes, fuck you, Blasty."  
"Don't fucking call me that, metal arm." 

Ed smirks.  
"Oh, right, you only like that nickname from your-"  
Katsuki pushes him backwards harshly and Ed lands on his butt on the floor. 

"Enough," Aizawa calls. "Can we finally start or are you going to keep wasting my time?" 

Ling's eyes widen and he shakes his head.  
"I'm so sorry about them, Sir, please ignore them, I'm ready." 

Ed mumbles something that could be an apology and then follows Ling towards the middle of the gym where the teacher is waiting. 

"I'd like to see some close combat from you first, later your quirk."  
Ling nods and Ed sits on the floor a few meters away, soon joined by Katsuki and Denki.  
Calmer now that he knows he can start with his most confident skill set, Ling stretches himself to avoid damaging his muscles, and then gets into a fighting stance.  
Aizawa is watching his every move closely, and he'd be nervous under his gaze if he hadn't been training close combat since he was young with his ruthless older and younger siblings.

It becomes apparent that Aizawa is letting him make the first move, so Ling shakes out his shoulders, assesses the man in front of him, and then moves swiftly forward.

\----

Ed loves watching Ling train. He moves gracefully, like a cat, light on his feet and quicker than most of his classmates (they’re not in one class, but he snuck out of class to watch Ling’s class train a few times).  
Ling’s punches and kicks have strength behind them you wouldn't expect from him when looking at him.  
And his people skills help him too. Ed is convinced it has to do with his quirk that he's so good at reading people, since his body basically has to assess everyone around him closely to find a possible merging partner.  
Ling says it’s experience from growing up with so many siblings.  
In the end, it’s probably a combination of both.

Aizawa is good too though, obviously, he's a teacher and pro-hero. At first he just fights back with his body, but soon he also uses the weird scarf. Ed can't figure out how he controls it. Denki told him the teacher's quirk is erasing quirks, so it can't be that.

The scarf wraps around Ling's ankle and lifts him into the air. Ling grabs on to the fabric and yanks, making Aizawa stumble for a moment, swings himself, and then kicks the teacher in the side of his head full force.  
He's dropped and lands gracefully on his feet.

Ed grins.  
"Fuck, he's hot."  
"Kind of," Denki mumbles next to him and Ed looks over frowning.  
"Hey, back off, my boyfriend."  
"Don't worry, he's just my best friend! But he does look very hot while fighting."  
Relaxing because he trusts Denki, Ed nods, grin returning.  
"Damn straight he does."  
"Nothing straight about you two thirsting over Smiley," Katsuki grumbles.  
"Let me thirst over my boyfriend in peace, anger boy."  
"Shut the fuck up, asshole."

"Shh, Ling has to concentrate," Denki interrupts and Ed focuses back on the training. Aizawa is at it again with the scarf trying to catch Ling, and Ling is jumping around and ducking to get closer without being caught a second time.  
Ed unconsciously holds his breath at a few close calls, but then the scarf wraps around Ling's middle, punning his arms to his sides, rendering him defenseless.

Ed gets to his feet and bites his lip. Is that bad? That he lost? But the teacher just puts him down and tells him to go again.  
"Calm the fuck down," Katsuki snaps. "Aizawa is fair, he won't say no just because Smiley can't beat a pro-hero."  
With a sigh, Ed sits back down and chews on his lip. Despite Katsuki's words, he's nervous. He can see that Ling is nervous too under his concentrated exterior, but that doesn’t stop him from being amazing.

They train for about half an hour more, and Ling does really well as far as Ed can judge, keeping in mind that he’s still training with a pro. He’s called over then and Denki winks at him.  
“Go merge with your boyfriend.”  
“You’re fucking gross,” Katsuki snaps while Ed grimaces.  
“Ew, Denki don’t say it like that.”  
Denki just chuckles and waves him away. Ed rolls his eyes and hurries to Ling and Aizawa.

“Alright, just show me how your quirk works and then we’ll do another round to see how you can use a different quirk spontaneously in a fight.”  
Ling nods and holds out his hand. Taking it, Ed locks eyes with his boyfriend and smiles a bit.  
“Alright, let’s show him that we can be a great duo even without training.”  
With another nod, Ling closes his eyes and then Ed feels weightless, just like Greed described it before being back in a body without the ability to move.  
**”Wait, this is how you see everything?”**

Ling’s laughter feels strange in Ed’s throat because it’s not him doing that. It’s super weird, but not in a bad way.  
“Yes, this is what being tall feels like.”  
**”You’re lucky I can’t punch you right now.”**

“Can you use his quirk?” Aizawa interrupts them and Ed can feel Ling tense.  
**”Don’t worry, I’ll coach you through it. Try making a spear or sword from the floor. Put your hands on the ground and close your eyes, feel the materials in there and search for the ones you’ll need for a weapon.”**

Ling obeys and crouches down, pressing his hands to the gym floor. His eyes close, also cutting off Ed’s view. It’s weird because he feels like his eyes are still open. Does he even have a corporal body right now or is he just floating in the back of Ling’s brain?  
He’s interrupted by Ling opening his eyes again.

“I can feel stone and metal under the floor of the building. Can I still use it?”  
**”Yes, you just also need to move the floor away so you can reach the ground underneath. Just focus on what you want to do, visualise it in your head and then clap your hands together and move your hands like you’re pulling something out of the ground.”**  
Ling nods and then does what Ed said. There’s blue sparks and then Ling is pulling a spear out of the gym floor. He leaves a hole in it that Ed probably would have closed in the same motion, but he did great for the first time using the quirk.

“Very well,” Aizawa says, and that’s all the warning they get before the scarf swings at them and Ling has to dodge.

\----

Katsuki watches as Ling and Ed merge. It’s like the blond boy is turning to fog and being sucked into Ling’s hand, and then Ling is standing there alone, holding himself a little differently. When he uses Ed’s quirk and pulls a weapon from the ground, Katsuki puffs out some air because he’s impressed that they work so well together.

“Look at them, you can kind of see Ed in his movements.”  
Denki’s words make him pay more attention as Ling dodges Aizawa, and Denki is right. They haven’t seen Ed train yet, but you can see how some movements are less graceful like Ling usually is and more practical.  
Watching them fight together in Ling’s body is pretty interesting, and Katsuki feels himself leaning forward slightly, chin resting in his palm, elbow on his knee.

When it becomes apparent that Ling is still struggling with Ed’s quirk in a fight situation, a shift goes through his face and a grin appears on Ling’s face that’s unlike his usual ones.  
“Did they just switch?” Denki asks, sounding as curious about all this as Katsuki feels.  
Ed/Ling claps his hands together as Aizawa attacks again and presses them to the floor, which seems to melt around Aizawa, and then hardens again, trapping his feet in the ground.  
The teacher tries to get out of it, but he’s clearly stuck. Ed/Ling’s face changes again and with his usual grace, Ling hops over the scarf that is still moving and kicks their teacher’s chest, making him lose balance with his feet stuck like that.  
There’s another switch, and it seems effortless, and then there’s a second clap and the scarf falls to the ground in small pieces, leaving Aizawa defenseless and stuck, and Ling grinning down at him.

“Good job, kid. But you ruined my capture weapon.”  
“Ed will fix it again.”

The air next to Ling starts to shimmer and fog leaves him to form back into Ed who sways on his feet for a moment before shaking his head.  
“Sorry about all that, I’ll fix it.”

Katsuki watches as Ed claps and frees Aizawa, fixes the floor and also the scarf.  
He huffs disappointed. He would have loved to see Ed get in trouble for the damage he caused.

Denki jumps up and pulls Katsuki with him and they join the others.  
“So, what did you think?” Denki asks excitedly.  
Aizawa puts his scarf back around his neck with practiced motions.  
“I think you’re very well suited for UA’s hero course. You have excellent control over your own quirk, are quick to pick up on a new quirk and know how to work around it if you can’t use it very well yourself, and your close combat skills are as impressive as Greed said.”

Ling’s face is bright red from the praise and Ed is grinning brightly and throws an arm around his boyfriend.  
Katsuki’s eyes briefly wander to Denki before he focuses back on Aizawa.

“So what, he’s gonna transfer?” Katsuki asks.  
“I will have to discuss that with the principal, but he will be applying with my recommendation.”  
Ling squeaks excitedly and hugs Denki and Ed both.  
Rolling his eyes, Katsuki ruffles Ling’s hair briefly.

“Good job, body snatcher.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stronger the emotional bond is that Ling has with a person, the easier it is to share the body and switch between the two people in control, and since he really loves Ed and Ed loves him... They're pretty damn amazing together.
> 
> Tomorrow: Envy & the League of Villains (feat. a surprise guest & possibly hints on the traitor)


	20. Envy & the League of Villains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: blood & injuries, cursing  
> tag: Envy Needs a Hug
> 
> I don't hate this chapter, but I also think it could've turned out better, but I read it so many times and changed stuff, I'm giving up on perfecting it :D

Envy drags himself away from the fight as soon as Greed is gone. His teammates already left through those portals, and All for One is fighting All Might and some other guy. He needs to get away. His chest and arm are burning with the scratches from Greed and he feels sluggish from the blood loss.

He didn’t feel it before because of the adrenaline, but now he can barely breathe through the pain. He heals a little faster than the average person, but nowhere near Greed’s speed, so the blood is dripping with every step he takes. He doesn’t know where the others went, to which hideout, so all he can do is get away from the heroes as far as possible.  
When he finally can’t make himself walk anymore, he’s quite a bit away from the fight in a quiet alley, and sits down heavily, back against the wall.

His mind wanders to the pain in Greed’s face as he fought him. He really didn’t want to hurt Envy… And Envy understands now why he left him, but that doesn’t undo how much it hurt to wake up in the morning to find the brief note from Greed saying he left because he couldn’t do it anymore.  
And Envy… He’d been all alone then, their siblings all too happy with following their father’s every order.  
It had taken a few days for the others to realise that Greed was gone, and father had panicked because he thought he was going to try and destroy them. And because Envy had always been the closest to Greed, he had been asked about it. At first it was okay, father just wanted to know where Greed went, when he had left, if he would be back. Envy told him everything he knew because he’d been so angry and hurt.  
But his father didn’t believe that that was all, he was so sure Envy knew Greed’s exact location, so he let Lust help interrogate him with her quirk, piercing her elongated claws through his arms and shoulders until he was begging her to stop.

Envy sighs and his eyes close despite his attempts to keep them open. He got hurt because of his brother and even though he knows he didn’t want that, didn’t know that that would happen, he still can’t quite forgive him.  
He’s so tired and it hurts so much, so he finally gives up and lets the darkness pull him in.

\---------

When Envy wakes up again, the first thing he notices is that he’s alive. Then he realises that he’s not in the alley anymore because he’s lying on something comfortable, and it smells like food.  
With some effort he manages to open his eyes and blinks a few times to orient himself. He’s in an apartment, in the living room as it seems, and he’s lying on a couch. A glance to his chest and arm tells him that whoever lives here bandaged his wounds.

“Oh, you’re awake, how do you feel?”

His head snaps up, defenses rising, making him ready to fight in case of danger. There’s a man in front of him who can’t be much older than him. He has white hair and kind grey eyes. Envy has seen him before, but can’t remember where.

“Who are you?”  
“Natsuo Todoroki.”

Todoroki. Endeavor’s son. But that’s not how he knows him. His tired mind is working in overdrive, and then he finally remembers.

“Natsuo Todoroki. You’re the guy who was over to help with Dabi’s scars twice.”  
“Yes, that one. Just call me Natsuo. What’s your name again?”  
“Envy. Thanks for helping me.”  
“You’re welcome.”

Envy rubs his face and sits up. He groans when his whole body aches.  
“Careful.” Natsuo approaches him and helps him get comfortable on the couch.  
“You were pretty hurt. What happened?”  
Greed’s torn expression flashes in front of his eyes and he shakes his head.  
“I don’t remember. Some hero I think.”  
The man doesn’t seem to really believe him, but he knows not to pry with villains.  
“Can you contact the League somehow to let them know you’re alright?”  
“Yeah, do you have a phone?”

Natsuo leaves and Envy takes the time to look around again. It’s a nice place. There’s some house plants, pictures of who he assumes are the man’s siblings and mother. There’s none that shows their father, and Envy wonders what the reason is.  
A few moments later, Natsuo returns and hands him a phone. Envy memorised all numbers of the League in case he ever needs them. He wonders who he should call, and finally decides on the boss himself.

After dialling, he presses the phone to his ear and waits, tense. What if they were caught even after they escaped through Kurogiri’s portal?  
Just when he’s ready to hang up and call maybe another League member or blondie, their informant from UA, Shigaraki picks up.

“Hello?”  
“Finally. It’s me, Envy. Are you all safe?”  
“Envy. We were wondering where you are. Everyone except sensei made it out, they caught him. Where are _you_?”  
“I’m with the doctor guy, Natsuo Todoroki. He found me.”  
“What do you mean he found you?”

Shigaraki sounds on edge and Envy isn’t sure if it’s because his mentor got caught or if it’s because he worries about Envy. He wants it to be the latter, but he pushes that thought away.

“Some hero caught me while I was keeping an eye out around the hideout. I escaped, but they got me good.”  
“Give me your address and I’ll have Kurogiri make you a portal.”  
Envy looks at Natsuo and bites his lip. The guy probably doesn’t want the League to have his address. And Envy likes knowing things that others don’t know, to have info just for himself. _And_ he can still smell food… He’s so hungry, unsure when he last ate…. So, he makes a decision.  
He presses a hand to the speaker of the phone so Shigaraki can’t hear them, and asks:  
“Hey, where are we?”

Gladly it’s a part of the city that Envy is familiar with. He returns to the phone call.  
“Not quite yet. Tell him to make a portal in an hour in the alley behind the convenience store where Dabi found me.”  
“Why?”  
“I still have some stuff to take care of. I’ll explain later.”  
“You better not be doing anything stupid.”  
“I would never.”  
Envy hangs up and hands the phone back to the other man.

“You have things to take care of? You know, if you want to kill me, Shigaraki won’t be happy. He needs me if one of his League members gets injured. I’m the only one with medical knowledge you can trust.”  
“I’m not gonna kill you, fucker. I just don’t feel like going back just yet.”  
An amused smile appears on Natsuo’s face.  
“You smelled the food, didn’t you? Are you hungry?”  
Embarrassment floods Envy, but he’s too tired and weak to lie and pretend right now.  
“Yes. We don’t really get good food at the League a lot.”  
“You do look very thin. Can I just take a look at your injuries first?”  
“Sure.”

Envy watches the man’s hands while he unwraps the bandages. A frown appears on his forehead when he sees the deep cuts. They already started closing, but they’re still bad, and on his arm they’re red and swollen around the edges.  
“You had a lot of dirt in them, and I had to get pieces of your shirt out of the ones on your chest too. Do you have a healing quirk?”  
“It’s not my main quirk, but I do heal faster.”  
Natsuo’s head snaps up to look at Envy.  
“You have more than one quirk?”  
Envy blinks.  
“Doesn’t… everyone have a smaller secondary quirk? All my siblings have a secondary healing quirk, some stronger, some weaker.”  
“No…?” Natsuo sounds intrigued. “I mean, my brother has two quirks, one of our mother, one of our father, but that’s not the norm, and usually doesn’t happen for every child in a family.”

Unsure what to do or say to that, Envy just looks back at the man and waits. Finally, he gets up.  
“I’ll get new bandages. With your healing it should close in a few hours and hopefully the infection won’t get worse.”  
Envy looks after him, confused now. What does this mean that his family all has two quirks, but apparently that’s not normal? He also heard from Toga that quirks are a combination of your parents’ quirks, but Envy doesn’t know his mother, and his and his siblings’ quirks are way too different to be all from the same parents.  
He thinks back to when he and Greed were wondering about their father and the personalities of each other and the rest of their siblings. This new knowledge about it not being normal to have two quirks just makes Envy believe their theory even more: Their father did something with them, something shady.

His thought process is interrupted again by Natsuo returning, and they’re silent as he wraps Envy’s chest and arm again and then hands him a shirt to put on over the bandages.  
When he’s done, he smiles a bit at Envy.

“Alright, breakfast now. Come on, it’s in the kitchen. Can you get up?”  
With Natsuo’s help, he stands on wobbly legs and needs a few moments to find balance. Then he follows him into the kitchen and sits at the table.  
While they eat, neither of them says anything.  
“I owe you,” Envy finally speaks up. He hates that, which is also why he let Greed go. Because the pathetic asshole saved his life, so he had to pay him back.  
“You don’t. I helped you voluntarily. Just… Don’t get hurt again too soon.”  
Envy narrows his eyes suspiciously, but Natsuo seems to be serious, so he nods.  
“Fine. If you change your mind…”

It’s silent again until they’re done eating and Natsuo collects the dishes and puts them into the sink to soak.  
“Well, if you really want to do something for me in return…”  
Envy’s gaze snaps up.  
“What is it?”  
“I have some things I’ve been meaning to give to Shigaraki, but Dabi hasn’t called me in a bit. Can you give them to him for me?”  
“Sure, what is it?”  
Natsuo leaves the room and then returns with a cloth bag.  
“Is it private?” he asks, curious to see what it is.  
The man’s face is red when Envy looks at him again.  
“No, you can look at it.”  
So, he does.

There’s a weird glove-like thing but with only two fingers, lip balm and some other lotions.  
“Are you trying to subtly make fun of him?”  
“No! I think he has a skin condition and just wanted to help.”  
Envy raises his eyebrows at him, and Natsuo turns even redder.  
“Just… Give it to him, please. The gloves are artist gloves, they should help with his quirk when he’s holding things.”

“Hold on a second,” Envy says slowly. “You’re making me give Shigaraki gifts from you? You want to fuck him, don’t you?”  
“What?! No!” Natsuo looks like he wants to throw Envy out the window or jump out himself.  
“Well, then why are you giving him stuff?”  
“It’s just… kindness.”  
“Oh really? Human kindness for no reason?”  
“That is something that exists, you know?”  
“Yeah, but you’re blushing the whole time, so… Do you have a crush on the League boss?”  
Natsuo rubs his face.  
“What if I do?”  
“Then give the shit to him yourself and ask him out.”  
“I doubt he has time for that.”  
“Then make up a reason to visit the hideout a bunch of times. Say you’ll have to check on me. I’ll even play along for you.” Envy smirks. “I can’t wait to see that play out.”  
“I can’t do that. He’s…”  
“A villain? So am I. Wanna say something bad about us?”  
“No… It’s not that. But I’m Endeavor’s son. It’s just complicated…”  
“Well, whatever, I can give him the stuff, but I think he’d prefer to get it from you.”

Envy is getting gay vibes from Shigaraki for sure, and Natsuo is good-looking and kind. Maybe it’d make their boss less… on edge if he had a boyfriend. And if Shigaraki doesn’t want to date Natsuo… He looks him up and down. Envy wouldn’t mind taking his place.  
He is in fact not sure how good the idea is to have Natsuo talk to him today since Shigaraki just lost his mentor.  
But then again, Envy kind of loves to see things and people crash and burn. It would distract him from his brain constantly trying to make him think about Greed and their fight.

“Fine. I’m coming with you.”  
It snaps him out of his thoughts and he nods, holding back a grin.  
“Okay, we should hurry, the place I told Shigaraki to pick me up from is twenty minutes away from here.”  
“But what do I say why I went with you?”  
“You wanted to make sure I arrive safely because of my injuries. Then you give the shit to the boss saying you had it lying around and thought he might need it. And then you say you’ll have to come over a bunch of times to check on me.”  
“And you think he won’t mind?”  
“Yeah. And if he does mind…” Envy winks at Natsuo who frowns.  
“I’m sorry, but you’re not really my type…”  
Envy narrows his eyes, sour taste in his throat. He hates that he gets jealous so quickly. He doesn’t even like Natsuo for fuck’s sake! He doesn’t know him!

Natsuo puts a hand on Envy’s arm.  
“I hope you don’t feel insulted by that.”  
“I don’t,” he shakes his hand off and bites his lip. “Let’s just go.”  
He can feel Natsuo’s eyes on him, but the man doesn’t push.  
“In a minute, I’ll just do the dishes quickly.”

\---------

They make it in time to the right location, and while they wait for the portal to open up, Natsuo seems nervous.  
“And you’re sure Shigaraki won’t mind me showing up out of nowhere?”  
“Well, he might. His mentor just got arrested.”  
Envy smiles and all blood leaves Natsuo’s face.  
“Hold on, why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”  
Before Envy can answer, a portal opens and he shoves Natsuo so he falls through, and then steps in after him.

He needs a moment to orient himself once he comes out on the other side, like every time, but then he spots Natsuo kneeling on the floor, looking embarrassed, and the rest of the inner League circle standing around them.  
Toga hops over to him and pokes at his bandaged arm.  
“What happened?”  
“Why is he here?” Shigaraki asks, and Envy can’t quite guess his mood.  
Natsuo catches Envy’s eyes and he looks really betrayed, so he decides not to be a complete ass.  
“He wanted to make sure I actually arrive safely, but I stumbled into him and pushed him through the portal by accident. I got hit pretty bad though, he’ll have to come over a bunch of times to look at the wounds anyways so he should know where we are.”  
“Oh no, did a hero fight you?” Toga asks worried.  
Envy nods.  
“I didn’t recognise them and ran when they hit my chest.”

“I’m glad you’re alive! _Only cowards run from a fight!_ ”  
With an amused grin, Envy turns to Twice.  
“Hi to you too. Can I sit down now?”  
Dabi shifts aside on the couch and Envy flops down next to him. He hears the others speak again but zones out. All leftover energy leaves him and he leans his head back, eyes closing. He isn’t sure how long he sits there like this, but when he focuses back on the world, leaving the blissful state of no thinking, Shigaraki and Natsuo are gone, and so are Dabi, Mr. Compress and Kurogiri. Only Magne, Twice and Toga are sitting at the table, Magne braiding the other girl’s hair while Twice chats with them. Spinner is on the floor playing a video game on his Nintendo. 

Envy rubs his eyes and gets up slowly, chest aching and arm pulsing painfully with every movement. His quirk better hurry.  
“I’ll go get some fresh air,” he announces and then walks through the hideout to the staircase that leads up to the roof. He pauses in the hallway in front of one door when he hears voices.

“-hero?” Shigaraki.  
“No. It could have been an unknown one, but I’m not sure.” Natsuo.  
“What does it matter who did it?”  
“Why would he lie about how he got the injuries if it doesn’t matter?”

Envy frowns. They’re talking about him? He steps closer to the door.

“I didn’t think of it like that. Are you sure he lied?”  
“Pretty sure, he had this look in his eyes. And when he told you it was a hero, he didn’t hesitate, but when I asked him he said he doesn’t really remember and that it was _probably_ a hero.”  
“Maybe he only now remembered.”  
“Or he’s lying and hiding something.”

Envy turns around and walks to the stairs with quick steps. So what if they know he’s lying? He won’t tell them anything. This is between Greed and him. It’s none of their business.

He reaches the roof and breathes in the warm noon air. His hands grip the railing that surrounds the roof tightly, and he stares ahead blankly. Thoughts are spinning in his brain and the fight replays again and again, and he can’t stop it. Would he have killed Greed if he could have? Yes. Right? Or… not? He let him go after all…  
And Greed protecting him… Why did he do that? Why does he still care about him, offered to take him with him, after leaving him behind? Couldn’t Envy still work for their father and betray him?  
He doesn’t, obviously. He’d never, especially after the interrogation. But Greed doesn’t know that. Why does Greed care? Why does he care about some angry teenager? Where is he? Does he have a proper home? A meal every day? Is he trying to become a hero like the kid he tried to save?

Long ago, before he got his quirk, Envy used to dream of becoming a hero, saving people, making people smile, being praised and celebrated. But father made sure to stop his silly daydreaming. They were all destined to become villains. Greed will see that too, and then he’ll have to abandon the Bakugou child as well.

More thoughts swirl through his brain, thoughts of the fight, their childhood, Envy’s past hero dream, all those questions he has about Greed, the kid that’s barely younger than Envy, but who apparently deserves saving, while he didn’t.

Did he make a mistake? Should he have gone with Greed? Can he still be a hero if he just gets out of the villain business quick enough? Does he even want to be one? He’s good at being the bad guy…  
His hands grip his hair tightly, and he pulls.  
“Shut up,” he whispers. There’s too much noise in his head. It’s too loud. “Shut up. Shut up!” He drops to his knees and leans his forehead against the warm metal railing. “Shut up,” he says over and over again.

\---------

Envy doesn’t know how long he’s been up here, and he startles when Dabi speaks up behind him. He didn’t hear him arrive.  
“Are you done?”  
He jumps to his feet and rubs his face before turning to face the other villain. He can’t read his expression.  
“I wasn’t doing anything.”  
“Quit lying,” Dabi snaps. “I stood here for five minutes and heard your muttering.  
“So what? It’s none of your fucking business.”  
“I just want to make sure you don’t throw yourself off the roof. It’s not high enough to kill you and we don’t have time to help you through recovery.”

Dabi walks closer and Envy narrows his eyes, body tense. But the other man just leans against the railing and looks ahead, the sun making his dark hair shine like ink.  
They stand in silence, and after a while, Envy relaxes again and leans next to Dabi.  
“So how did you get your injuries really? The Todoroki guy and Shigaraki seem convinced you’re lying about the hero fight.”  
Envy rubs at a rusty spot on the railing and considers.  
“It’s no big deal, just forget about it,” he mumbles.  
“Then stop making it a big deal and just tell me.” Dabi sounds impatient, but like he’s trying to hide it.

Envy hasn’t been with them for very long, maybe a month now, but sometimes Dabi reminds him of Greed. He also radiates that annoyed and tired big brother energy. Maybe that’s the reason he caves.

“I ran into one of my brothers, he was looking for the Bakugou kid.”  
“Your brother almost killed you?”  
“He had to. I didn’t give him a choice.”  
Why is Envy defending Greed? He doesn’t know.  
Dabi’s eyes are watching him intently. They’re too piercing, so Envy looks away.  
“So why didn’t you tell anyone?”  
“Because…”  
There’s no answer. Or rather, none he wants to admit out loud. He misses his brother and still cares about him, and regrets it a little that he didn’t go with him.  
But he can’t say that to Dabi. He… also likes the League a lot, and that’s a problem. They are the first real family he has. So he can’t just tell them that he was considering abandoning them. He’s not going to be like Greed.

“I don’t know,” he finally finishes.  
“You know, I think I understand,” Dabi says more to himself than to him, and when Envy looks at him, his gaze seems far away.  
Envy’s hair moves in the wind and he pushes it out of his face. When he focuses back on Dabi, the other is watching him again.  
“But you don’t need your old family anymore, so stop trying to protect him.”  
He doesn’t say _’We’re your new family’_ , but Envy hears it in his tone of voice anyways.

It soothes his mind a little because even though there’s still a moral battle raging inside him and he’s not sure if he made the right decision, he has people here who care at least a little bit about him, who will make sure he’s okay and who look out for him in their very own way. 

“Don’t tell the others.”  
“Fine. Next time talk to someone before you have a mental breakdown.”  
“Okay.”

They stand there in comfortable silence for a while longer, the sun shining down on them mercilessly, but the wind making sure it’s not too warm. Envy’s mind is blissfully silent for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend loves Natshig and made me love it so I couldn't help but add a sprinkle of it. If you ever want the full Natsuo & Shigaraki conversation in a separate chapter, let me know!
> 
> Next chapter will be back to Greed's POV again, feat. Greed meeting a new character. Any guesses who that could be?  
> Also, how'd you like that traitor hint 😏


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed's afternoon without the kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: none, I'm pretty sure there's not even cursing in this unless I missed something
> 
> this is a short one, I'm sorry! But a new character shows up, so I hope that makes up for it

Greed looks at two apartments that both seem okay. One is closer to school but only has two bedrooms, one is a little further away and has three. He can afford either thanks to his job at UA and saving up like crazy those past months. He thinks the kids would be fine with both, so he’s leaning towards the three bedroom one. As much as he loves the brats, he wants his own room.

Since none of the kids texted him yet, he decides to just explore the neighbourhood a bit and get to know it already. It’s a rather quiet area since it’s not on any big street, and he sees a few small shops and a restaurant.  
Greed is thinking about grabbing something to eat later with the kids to talk about the apartment and decide which one they’ll take, when he rounds a corner and almost stumbles over the legs of a boy sitting on the steps in front of a building.  
The blond teenager who has to be his kids’ age apologises politely, face blank but eyes kind of sad, and Greed frowns at him.  
“Hey, kid, you okay? You look kinda depressed?”  
“And you know that because you know me so well?” The kid’s voice is dripping with sarcasm, and Greed kind of already likes him. He has a soft spot for bitchy, snarky kids apparently, considering Ed and Katsuki.

“Fair enough. Mind if I sit down?”  
“Can I stop you?”  
“You could,” Greed says honestly, sitting on the steps with some distance to the teen. “But you look like you’re not doing so well and talking might help.”  
“Do I know you?”  
“No.”  
The kid narrows his eyes and studies him.  
“Are you sure? You seem familiar.”  
Greed blinks and tilts his head.  
“Well, now that you mention it, I think I’ve seen you before. You go to UA?”  
“Class 1B.”  
“Janitor and secretary. I’m Greed.”  
“Neito Monoma.”

Greed holds out his hand and Monoma doesn’t take it, so he grins and drops it again.  
“So, Monoma, why are you out here sulking?”  
“Just because you work at my school doesn’t mean I’ll tell you about my private life.”  
“Alright, I won’t push.”

They sit in silence for a bit before Greed decides to try his hand at small talk.  
“Excited about moving to the dorms, kid?”  
A shadow briefly darkens Monoma’s face before his carefully blank expression returns.  
“Obviously. I’ll be around my friends the whole day.”  
“You sure? You seemed to hesitate there for a moment.”  
“Stop analysing me. You know nothing about me.”  
Pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the building behind them, Greed asks:  
“You live there?”  
“No. I just sat down for a bit.”  
“See? Now I know a bunch of things about you. You don’t live there, you go to UA, and I know your name.”  
Monoma is looking at him unimpressed.

“I know you don’t live there, work at UA and your name. All that doesn’t mean I know you. What do you want from me?”  
“Nothing, I just thought you might need someone to listen, or to just sit with you. Do you want me to leave?”  
The kid looks away and shrugs, eyes focusing on something in the distance.

“I don’t care,” he then says and Greed smirks but doesn’t say anything.  
“You know, you remind me of a calmer version of one of my kids.”  
“You have children?”  
“Oh hell no, they’re not mine, I just took them in. I’m way too young to have my own kids. They’re your age actually, two of them go to UA, class A.”

Monoma looks at him now and frowns.  
“Class A? You adopted two of those class A idiots?”  
“You don’t like them?”  
“No, I don’t. They think they’re better than us, but they aren’t.” The kid grins. “And we will show them in the hero licensing exam.”  
“I see, a rivalry between classes.” Greed chuckles. “What’s your quirk, kid?”  
“I can copy other people’s quirks for a few minutes.”

Interesting, so it’s similar to Ling’s quirk, only that he borrows the whole person along with their quirk. So this must be the kid Aizawa had been talking about yesterday.

“My third kid has a quirk kinda like yours and he’s trying to transfer to UA into your class. You might get along.”  
Monoma seems curious now.  
“A quirk like mine? What exactly is it?”  
Before Greed can answer, his phone rings.  
He picks up after seeing that it’s Ling.

“Hey, you done?”  
“Yes. It took a bit longer because Denki insisted on showing me around school already while it’s all still empty.”  
“No problem. How’d it go?”  
“It went great! Aizawa said he’ll definitely recommend me, so I have good chances to get into class B!”  
Greed can’t help but smile.  
“I’m proud of you, kid.”  
“Thanks, Greed, I love you!”  
“Love you too. I’ll meet you outside of UA, we can go grab celebratory pizza if you want.”  
“Oh, yes!”  
“Great, I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t get in any trouble, keep an eye on Katsuki.”  
“Yes yes, just hurry, I’m starving.”

Greed huffs and then hangs up.  
Monoma is still watching him.

“Was that the one that wants to transfer?”  
“Yes, he just had a training session with Aizawa to see if he’s any good and it’s looking good. By the way, this stays between us, right? Aizawa will kill me if he finds out I already went around telling other students about something that’s not even sure.”  
He grins and the kid nods.  
“Fine, but only because he won’t get into class A.”  
Greed laughs and gets up, patting his jeans.

“Well, it was nice talking to you. If you do want to talk about whatever is up with the dorm situation or whatever made you sulk out here, you can find me in the hallways or my office when school starts again. My metaphorical and my physical door are always open.”  
“Yeah, whatever. I don’t need your help, I am perfectly capable of handling things on my own.”  
“Never said you’re not capable, it’s just sometimes nice to have help, you know?”  
Pocketing his phone, Greed stretches.  
“Alright, kid, see you around.”  
“Bye.”

When he’s a few steps back, Monoma calls after him.  
“Which of class A are the ones who live with you?”  
Greed smirks and looks at him over his shoulder.  
“The loud blond and lightning bolt boy,” he yells back. Monoma pulls a face.  
“You really picked the worst ones.”

Greed is still chuckling when he’s a few streets away. What an interesting encounter. He really wonders what was on the kid’s mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me take the time here to deliver a message from my friend Lee (who I mention a lot because I see them as the co-author of this fanfic judging by how much they help me with it) and also from myself:
> 
> We both appreciate all of you who write comments so incredibly much, especially because I upload daily and a bunch of you comment daily and just really make my day! Every single comment makes me really happy, so I want to say thank you so much for all your feedback and just overall support, it makes writing this even better <3  
> Don't feel pressured to comment though, I really just wanted to take a moment to say thank you because I want you all to know just how much we appreciate you! (Lee was worried I don't show my appreciation for you enough, so I promised to tell you!! Lee is sweet but they're also telling me to make you suffer with some of the stuff I write, so they're both the angel and devil on my shoulder :D)
> 
> Next chapter: family fluff and some teeny weeny angst if you wanna call it that, but it's actually just 99.9% fluff!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> news about Ling's transfer & a chat with Ling's father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing
> 
> This is pure fluff, pure sappy fluff with a teeny sprinkle of angst that's overpowered by the fluff  
> We all deserve this after the kamino arc and the envy chapter tho

Ling gets accepted into UA, and when Greed tells him after reading the text from Aizawa, he screams so loud one of the neighbours knocks on the ceiling and yells at them to be fucking quiet.

“Watch your fucking language, I have children here,” Greed yells back and then grins at Ling.  
“I’m so proud of you, brat.”  
“Thank you!”  
Ling jumps up and down and flexes his hands, probably so he doesn’t throw himself into Greed’s arms. Since Greed had his outburst and said that he’s actually not a big fan of touching, Ling - who has always been the most touchy of the kids - has been trying to tone it down, and Greed appreciates it a lot. But he knows when the kid does really need a hug, so he steps forward and opens his arms.

A blink of an eye later he has an armful of excited Ling and pats his back.  
“What’s that noise?” Katsuki grumbles and sticks his head out of the bedroom where he’d been taking another nap with Denki.  
“I got accepted!” Ling squeaks and steps back from Greed to throw his arms around Katsuki’s neck. The blond stumbles a bit but then briefly allows Ling to hold on to him before shoving him off.  
“Of course you got fucking accepted, don’t tell me you ever doubted it.”  
“You’re too sweet, Kat.” Ling beams.

Denki joins them then and hugs Ling tightly, grinning.  
“I can’t wait for you to properly join our friend group! We can have secret sleepovers at the dorms!”  
“It will be amazing! But I’ll miss seeing Ed in the breaks…”  
“Maybe we can sneak him into the dorms some time.”

Greed clears his throat and the two smile at him innocently.  
“You didn’t hear anything,” Ling says seriously, and Greed huffs amused.  
“Sure thing, kid. I won’t tell Aizawa. But don’t get pregnant, you’re not ready to raise a child.”  
Ling snorts and detaches himself from Denki.  
“Okay, but what do we do about my father?”  
“How about you just call him?”

The kid chews on his lip.  
“Can you talk to him?”  
“He’ll think I kidnapped you.”  
“But… I really don’t want to talk to him… Please?”  
With a sigh, Greed steps to Ling and puts a hand on his shoulder.  
“You need to talk to him so he knows you’re okay and not kidnapped. But I’ll be there and take the phone if he makes you uncomfortable, I promise.”  
“Can you hold my hand?”  
Greed takes a deep breath.  
“Fine, I can hold your hand.”  
“I’ll hold your other hand,” Denki offers.  
“I’ll sit with you, but I’m not holding any hands.” Katsuki has his arms crossed.  
“Okay… I’ll call him.”

\----

They’re sitting crowded on the couch except for Katsuki who chose his seat on the coffee table. True to his word, Greed is holding Ling’s hand, the kid clinging to him tightly. Since he needs one hand to hold the phone, Denki has his arm wrapped around Ling instead.  
Ling’s grip tightens even more after dialling the number. Greed fucking hates making him do this, but he really doesn’t want to be accused of kidnapping.

“H-Hello. Is father there … It’s Ling. … Yeah, I know, that’s why I’m calling. … Okay, I’ll wait.”

Greed strokes his back.  
“You’re doing great,” he mumbles.

“Father, good afternoon. … I apologise, I’ll hurry. … It’s about school and my living situation. I’ve been staying with a friend for a few months now and I’ve decided to change schools. … Yes, I want to go to UA. … I never wanted to go to Shiketsu, but you wouldn’t listen. … I apologise.”

Ling’s lip is trembling, and Greed grits his teeth and squeezes his hand.

“I know. … I know, father. … Yes, I’m aware. … I know. I didn’t plan on asking you to pay for it. The person I live with is going to do that. … No, he’s not a partner, he’s like… a father.”

Greed holds out his hand and Ling pushes the phone into his hand so quickly he almost drops it.

“... what is going on, but I don’t like this teenage rebellion. Are you lying to me, Ling?”  
“No he isn’t. Good day, Sir.”  
“You are this mysterious man my son is planning to run away to?”  
“Actually, he’s been living with me since April, so almost five months, and you didn’t notice he was gone?”  
“I have a lot of other responsibilities!”  
“Yeah I don’t doubt that, but those shouldn’t keep you from caring about your children.”  
“So you want to care for him? You sound young, how old are you even?”  
“That’s none of your business. He will stay with me and switch schools. All we ask for is all documents on him that he might need and then for you to stay out of his life.”

There’s silence and then paper rustling. Greed strokes the back of Ling’s hand with his thumb because he’s still tense.

“Fine, I have his documents here. If he wants to run away like that, I won’t stop him because it would be a waste of time. I have more promising children.”  
Greed barely holds back the growl trying to rip from his throat. A disapproving sound escapes him anyways.  
“Excuse me, do you disagree?”  
“Fuck yes I disagree. Your son is exceptional. He is smart and strong and kind. You don’t deserve him. I’ll come pick up those papers tomorrow and then I’ll raise him like my own son because he deserves a father who loves him and sees what an amazing person he is. Fuck you.”  
He hangs up the phone then before he can say more and hands it back to Ling who’s staring at him.

Katsuki and Denki are also looking at him funny.  
“What?” Greed snaps.  
“Well, you called us your kids before, but you never actually called yourself our father,” Denki explains slowly.  
“So what? You know I think of you as my kids. What does this change?”  
“You called yourself a father, old man,” Katsuki says like it’s obvious what they’re going on about.  
“So?”

“What they’re trying to say,” Ling finally speaks up, “Is that even though we kind of knew what you think, we know for sure now, and… it makes this feel like a proper family.”  
“Not with you and Sparky, I don’t see you like my brothers,” Katsuki says quickly and Ling chuckles.  
“Yeah okay, we’re still more like friends, but you’re our father, and that’s nice to know.”

Greed narrows his eyes at the way Katsuki is clearly trying to hide a blush by turning his face away. He will have to look into this some other time.  
For now he has to deal with these three sappy kids.

“Okay. I’m your dad. Feel free to call me that if you want, you can also stick with Greed, I don’t care. You’re my kids and that won’t change. I’ve accepted it a while back that I’m a father of three at age 26 and that it’s kind of complicated, but I like it.”  
Ling grins brightly.  
“I love you, dad.”  
“Okay, that sounds fucking weird, I definitely won’t call you that, old man.”  
“I’ll have to think about it,” Denki says. “I’ll stick with Greed for now.”  
“Sure, no problem, brats.”  
He gets up and stretches his back so his joints pop.  
“Let’s continue packing up all this shit.”

They accepted the apartment with the three bedrooms and thanks to the landlord wanting someone new in there soon, they can move in whenever they’re ready. They’ll try to do that before the kids move into the dorms, so it’s all a bit stressful because even though they don’t have too much stuff, there’s still some packing to be done.

They’re all excited for the move, especially Greed and Katsuki since they’ve been sleeping in the living room for weeks apart from naps in the bedroom during the day.  
They deserve the bigger place after everything that happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this! The transition from "Yeah I'm kinda like their brother but I'm slowly thinking of them as my kids" to "I am their FATHER" is complete!  
> No, none of them will probably start calling him dad regularly now because they're used to calling him Greed, but he's officially their dad now!
> 
> Next chapter will be fun for those of you who like Greedzawa as much as I do!!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> two moves in three days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing
> 
> The beginning with the description of the apartment kinda sucks but I wanted y'all to know what it looks like so yeah :D  
> I wanted to say smth else but I forgot so if I remember I'll add it tomorrow
> 
> Now have fun with sappy dad!Greed and then... a surprise

They move to the new apartment two days before the move to the dorms. They work the whole day on assembling the furniture (it’s not a lot since they had to get everything new as the furniture of the old apartment belonged to the landlord and not Greed) and making the place live-able, but they’re all in a good mood, even Katsuki is smiling occasionally, especially when the bed in his room is done and he throws the blanket and pillows onto it.  
“Finally my own room again.”  
He drops onto the bed and Greed smiles to himself.  
Then he walks over to Ling and Denki’s room. They both got a separate bed because even though they said they don’t mind sharing, they shouldn’t have to do that until they move out some day, especially because Ed will probably sleep over a bunch, so now Ling and him will at least have a separate bed if not a separate room.

After making sure the kids are all doing well on their own in their rooms, he walks to his room. It’s not big, but it’s still pretty bare. The only furniture is a bed and a small dresser, same as in the kids’ rooms. But it’s a space with a door and a comfortable bed, so he’s actually really happy with this place.  
In the living room they have an armchair, a side-table and a potted plant, in the kitchen is a table with four chairs and a fridge along with the stove, oven, sink and cupboards. The bathroom has a shower, a toilet, a sink and a washing machine.  
Most stuff is used, but it all looks okay and works well enough, so there’s nothing to complain about. Greed takes it all in by wandering through the rooms with a little smile.

They have a proper place to call home now. A little late because the kids won’t be staying much here in the future because of the dorms, but at least it’s a nice apartment to come home to in the holidays and maybe on weekends sometimes. Greed is pleased with this development. He wouldn’t say no to a big house, but this is good for now. He has to tone down his greedy thoughts and be happy with what they can afford.

\----

That evening after dinner at their new table, they’re all exhausted from the day and get ready for bed.  
Greed follows Denki and Ling into their room when they’re done and grins at them from the door as they each climb into their own bed. He has to grin so his face doesn’t show how much he hates that he’ll be alone again soon.  
“Finally a new place, and now you’re leaving again in two days.”  
“You can read us a bedtime story if it makes you feel better,” Ling offers, sounding amused, but his eyes are kind of sad.  
“No thanks. But I will tuck you in at least this once.”  
“Don’t pretend you didn’t do that every time one of us fell asleep with the blanket not fully covering us.”  
“Shut up, smartass.”

Greed walks to Ling and looks down at him.  
“I said it before, but I feel like I should say it again. I’m really proud of you.”  
“You’re too sappy.”  
“Then why do you have tears in your eyes?”  
“I don’t!”  
Chuckling, he ruffles the kid’s hair and then pulls the blanket properly around his shoulders and makes sure he’s tucked in.  
“Goodnight.”  
“Night!”

Next he walks to Denki who’s looking a little down again like he did quite often for maybe a week now.  
Greed pets his hair.  
“I’m proud of you too. And you can talk to me about things, okay?”  
“Okay…”  
He leans closer and lowers his voice.  
“Anything. Really.”  
“When I’m ready I will.”  
Nodding, Greed tucks him in under his blanket.  
“I’ll wait, take all the time you need. Goodnight, kid.”  
“Good night.”

Katsuki is already in bed, tapping on his phone, when Greed enters his room. He looks up and frowns.  
“Going sappy on me too? Why?”  
Greed raises an eyebrow and walks up to the bed, sitting on the edge of it.  
“‘Course I’ll be sappy with all of you. Why should I leave one of you out?”  
“Fucking whatever. Goodnight, I want to be alone.”  
“If you want me to stay until you’re asleep, or if you want to talk-”  
“I don’t.”  
With a sigh, he gets up and strokes Katsuki’s hair.  
“Fine. But my door is always open.”

The kid swats his hand away but allows him to pull the blanket up and tuck him in. Greed smiles at him a little.  
“Goodnight, brat.”

\----

Two days later Greed takes the kids to UA. Their stuff has already been collected and their rooms are ready. And they better be fucking amazing for all the money he pays for school. They insist he doesn’t take them all the way because it’s embarrassing (and because nobody really knows that they live with him), and Greed is tempted to ignore them and make it humiliating, but he doesn’t actually want them in a bad mood, so he accepts it and lets them walk the rest of the way alone.

A heavy feeling settles in his chest.  
He’s alone again for now…  
The apartment feels empty and weird and too big for just himself, too new, too strange.  
He shakes his head quickly.  
“Stop it. They’re not gone forever. They’ll visit and you’ll see them in school.”

He sits in the armchair and stares at the plant, then he takes out his phone and scrolls through the news for a bit, trying to see if there’s any reports on the League and Envy, or their father. When there’s nothing, he puts the phone away and wanders into the kitchen.

Five minutes later he has a cup of coffee and no plan what to do. They only need him to work at UA again starting tomorrow, so he has a free day today. It should be fun. But he doesn’t know how to spend it.  
It takes him another hour to finally snap and take out his phone.

**Greed @ Hot & Homeless**

**Greed** : U busy?  
**Hot & Homeless**: The kids got their instructions and are busy settling in, so no, not right now  
**Hot & Homeless**: Though I feel like I’ll regret saying that  
**Greed** : Hang out with me  
**Hot & Homeless**: No  
**Greed** : Please? I don’t say that often so say yes  
**Hot & Homeless**: Entertain yourself  
**Greed** : The silence in the new apartment is too loud 

Greed stares at the message he sent and frowns. He didn’t want to open up to Aizawa again, but it kind of just happened. And now, as it seems, the teacher is leaving him on read.  
Fucking asshole.  
He puts his phone onto the side-table next to the armchair and gets up. With more focus than the task requires, he cleans his mug in the sink and then puts it away.  
When he hears the notification sound from his phone in the other room, he has to take a moment to breathe so he doesn’t sprint over. Instead, Greed walks calm and collected and just holds his phone for a second before checking the message.

**Hot & Homeless**: Meet me in thirty minutes

Greed stares at the address in the second message and then looks up what it is.  
It’s a cat café about twenty minutes away on foot if he hurries, so he walks into the bathroom and studies himself in the mirror.  
“Is this a date? Is it a friendly outing? Does he just want to cheer me up?”  
His reflexion doesn’t answer, so he washes his face, puts on some eyeliner and then stares at his closet for two minutes before settling on a simple white shirt and some ripped black jeans. Casual but pretty. And his ass looks good in these jeans, so if this really is a date, Aizawa has something nice to look at.

He’s a little late when he finally leaves the building, pushing his round sunglasses onto his nose, and follows his phone’s instructions to the café.

\----

Aizawa is waiting in front of the café already and doesn’t seem to have noticed Greed yet as he approaches, so he takes a moment to just look at him. The man has his hair tied back in a ponytail and instead of his hero costume he’s wearing a black sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black jeans. Greed nods approvingly and approaches him.

“You cleaned up for me, I feel honoured.”  
“I simply don’t want to be recognised in my hero costume.”

The teacher looks him up and down and Greed wants to ask him if he likes what he sees, but Aizawa cuts him off by turning away and walking to the door. All he can do is follow him.  
“So, is this a date?”  
“No. I just felt sorry for you for some reason.”

Ouch. Well, Greed will still try to make it feel like a date.  
They walk inside and to the counter. Greed takes off his sunglasses and hooks them onto the collar of his shirt.  
“So you’re not paying for my coffee if this isn’t a date?”  
Aizawa narrows his eyes at him and then rolls them.  
“Fine, I’ll pay for your coffee.”  
“Hey, hold on, don’t do it because you think I can’t afford it!” Greed’s defenses flare up. The teacher just looks at him with his default tired expression.  
“You can pay next time.”  
_Next time_? How interesting.

They order coffee and once they have their mugs, they sit at one of the tables on which a cat is lying already.  
Greed watches Aizawa’s face as he greets the cat quietly and then pets it.  
“So, you’re a fan of cats?”  
“I like them.”  
“You have your own?”  
“Yeah, two.”  
There’s a little smile on the man’s face as the cat climbs into his lap, and Greed thinks he would like to have that smile directed at himself some time.  
He quickly shakes the thought away. Way too cheesy. He wants to hook up with Aizawa, not date him. That was never the plan. … Was it?

The next ten minutes Aizawa completely ignores him in favour of petting the cat in his lap and talking to it. Greed is weirdly content to just drink his coffee and watch the man smile.  
He’s not sure he likes the way he really enjoys seeing that expression on Aizawa’s face.

“You know, this doesn’t mean I forgive you yet,” Greed says eventually.  
“I didn’t expect you to.”  
“Good!”  
He shifts on the chair.  
“How are the dorms?”  
“Surprisingly nice for the short time they took to build them.”  
Aizawa finally focuses on him again and kind of just absently keeps cuddling the cat.  
“Can I ask you for a favour?” Greed holds eye contact with him.  
“You keep reminding me of how I need to make up for the shit I said, so, fine. Ask for one.”  
“Keep me updated on how my kids are doing.”

In a matter of seconds, Aizawa’s whole demeanour seems to soften, and he nods.  
“You already miss them, don’t you?”  
“Of fucking course I miss them. We moved to a bigger place to have more space and now I miss our shitty apartment because at least I wouldn’t have to stare at doors to empty rooms all day.”  
"So why did you move? Now that they're in the dorms you don't need the extra space, do you?"  
"I don't need it, but I want it. I fucking hated the old place as much as the kids did. I deserve better."  
"I see."  
"You want to fight me on that?"  
"No. You do deserve better."

Greed huffs and leans down to pet a cat that’s sitting next to his feet, to hide that his heart is doing weird stuff at that. Aizawa’s face and voice are too gentle, he doesn’t quite know how to handle it.

“So, what are your cats called?”  
“Cloud and Ariel.”  
“Like the little mermaid?” Greed smirks.  
“Don’t say a word,” Aizawa warns.  
“Awww, you like Disney princesses? Is Ariel your favourite.”  
“Do you want another coffee so I can spit in it?”  
“Relax, pretty boy, I’m not judging.”  
“So who’s your favourite Disney princess then?”

Greed picks up the black cat at his feet and puts it into his lap so he can look at Aizawa while they’re talking.

“I’m not sure I have one. I saw like two Disney movies as a child, one without a princess.”  
“And now you don’t have a TV?”  
“Exactly.”

Aizawa rubs his nose against the cat’s head which seems to have fallen asleep on his thighs.  
“There’s a TV in my dorm apartment.”  
Greed perks up curiously.  
“Oh, is there?”  
“Yes. And my best friend happens to own every single animated Disney movie on DVD.”  
“Does he now?”  
“If you don’t stop that I will shut up now and not invite you.”  
Chuckling, Greed moves his fingers across his lips in a zipping motion.  
“Thank you,” Aizawa says, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Now what I wanted to say before you were being an annoying idiot, was that if you want you can come over for a movie some time and maybe also see the kids.”  
Greed smirks and wiggles his eyebrows seductively.  
“I’d love to.”  
“Just a movie. You try anything else and I’m throwing you out faster than you can use your quirk.”

With an amused expression, Greed nods.  
“Okay fine, I’ll behave, I promise.”  
Then he reaches out and pets the cat in Aizawa’s lap, their hands brushing together because the man’s hand is resting on the cat’s head. Greed ignores how his heart stutters briefly.  
“How about in three days? I don’t have work that night.”  
“That’s fine by me.”  
“So we have a second date.”  
“Still not a date.”

Greed laughs.  
“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now look at who accidentally developed feelings, whoops i guess
> 
> Aizawa's cats are from my own little EraserMic cats headcanon, they show up in my series "Dadzawa and his 20 kids", and there's actually 5 cats, but Mic found 3 of them, and since in this story EraserMic are just BFFs, Aizawa only has the two cats that he found  
> If you wanna know more about the cats and don't wanna read the other fanfics for it, I could add a little summary on Ariel and Cloud after the next chapter!
> 
> next chapter: Greed talks to All Might for the first time and has some bottled up anger


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chat with All Might

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing
> 
> The wonderful Bitters made a playlist for this fanfic and allowed me to share it! I love it a lot because the vibe is just really nice, and, as they told me, it tells the progress of Greed's journey (except Bad Romance, that was a joke pick for Greedzawa, but I still love it :D) and I love that  
> I discovered a bunch of new songs through it and listen to it while writing sometimes and I just thought you might like it too 🥰
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1iq6rO7EryY0dBw32x5Zgw?si=yS-8WVJQQoik5bq78VUF2A
> 
> I also have my own playlist I listen to while writing, I'll have to clean it up and sort it a bit, I'll add the link in one of the next chapters if you're interested in knowing what music I like to listen to when I write. I also have playlists for individual characters, so if you're interested in those...? 😏

Greed spends the first hour of work the next day going through paperwork about the dorms because Aizawa asked him to sort it for him. He fucking hates it, but it’s part of his job, so he does it as fast as he can.  
When he’s done, Greed makes his way to the gym because Aizawa also said he could briefly join as long as he doesn’t distract anyone, and Greed misses the kids a lot (even though it’s just been one day).

In the gym, they all seem to be busy, so Greed approaches Aizawa and All Might who are watching over the students. He never talked to the ex number one hero, he didn’t have much contact with any teachers besides Aizawa actually.  
But as he looks at All Might in this powered down form, he frowns, thinking of the sports festival, and kind of wants to kick him in the face.  
A hand lands on his arm as he gets closer, eyes only focused on All Might, and he looks at the owner of it - Aizawa, who is shaking his head at him.  
“Don’t murder people at school,” he says firmly but quietly, and Greed wonders how bad the death glare on his face is for the man to guess his intentions.  
“Hello, you must be Greed, we haven’t met yet,” All Might speaks up after taking the last few steps towards them.  
He sounds awfully nice, and Greed just glowers at him, ignoring the offered hand. The hero had been right there and let Katsuki suffer. Aizawa keeps his grip on his arm tight, probably worried that the second he lets go, Greed will kill the other hero. It’s quite likely, actually. He’d at least beat him up a bit.

All Might awkwardly drops his hand again and looks at him confused. Greed grins, showing his teeth.  
“We should have never met, for your own safety.”  
Aizawa’s hold on him tightens.  
“Behave or I’m throwing you out of the gym.”  
Greed glares at the man, who doesn’t seem impressed at all, so he forces himself to take a deep breath and then another and another.  
With an approving nod, Aizawa lets go of him and Greed looks at All Might again.  
“I won’t apologise for hating you. But I won’t kill you. It would ruin my chances with Aizawa.” He winks at the former number one hero with a cold smile.  
The poor man seems completely confused, but then Denki is calling his name and rushing over, dragging Ling along. Despite being in the other class, he’s training with class A since he needs an emotional bond to use his quirk, and he only has one with Denki and Katsuki, and with nobody in class B yet.

“Greed! Ling is worried about failing the License Exam.”  
Greed crosses his arms and looks at Ling who refuses to meet his eyes. This calls for a pep talk. He can do this, he’ll give the best fucking pep talk ever.  
“What’s that? Why would you worry about that?”  
“I barely used my quirk so far… I lack experience.”  
“How many days do you have until the exam?”  
“Like… ten I think.”  
“So that’s plenty of time, isn’t it? You just need to practice and believe in yourself, brat.”  
“You think I can do it?”  
“Fuck yes, I would never doubt you, you’ll do great.” He means it with every inch of his being.

Ling finally looks up at him and smiles, looking more confident now.  
“Okay, thanks. I’ll do my best. I love you.”  
“Love you too, brat. Now go practice. Make me proud.”  
He nods and returns to wherever he was before Denki dragged him away.  
The blond is still there, and Greed focuses on him now.  
“You worried too?”  
“A little…”  
“Well fuck that because you are amazing and you’ll show all the losers at that exam that you’re gonna be a great hero.” Greed is really in the flow of pep talks now and he thinks he’s doing great.

“Who’re you calling a loser, old man?”  
Greed turns to Katsuki with a grin. He didn’t expect him to approach him too since they didn’t talk about whether or not to keep it still a secret that they live with him yet. But upon closer inspection, he can see that there’s worry in the kid’s eyes, even though it’s a lot more subtle than Denki’s and Ling’s.  
He knows Katsuki would hate him for commenting on it though, so he just pats his shoulder.  
“Not you, brat, you know that. I have faith in all of you. Now go back to practice before your teacher throws me out for distracting you.”  
The kids obey and leave again.  
Pleased with their good behaviour but also worried because they’re all clearly nervous, Greed turns back to Aizawa and All Might.  
They both have very different expressions on their face.

All Might’s is one of confusion and concern.  
Aizawa’s is… Greed isn’t actually sure what it is. There’s something there for sure. His face is pretty much blank, but his eyes are… almost soft?  
“Stop staring at me,” Aizawa says frowning, and with that, the softness is gone.

Greed pouts.  
All Might clears his throat.  
“That was… Interesting language you use with them. How do you know our students so well?”  
“I’m raising them.” Greed smiles threateningly, ready to fight this man if he says one wrong word. Aizawa hits his arm. Oh, Greed probably shouldn’t have said that. Well, too late.  
“The cat is out of the bag I guess. So I can finally tell you what I think of you for letting one of my kids suffer at the sports festival in a muzzle and chained up in front of so many people.”  
“Just drop it, Greed,” Aizawa snaps. “I already talked to everyone involved after it happened, what you’re doing is just unnecessary.”

The former hero seems to understand some things now.  
“You’re upset with me because I didn’t help young Bakugou-”  
“Don’t call him that, he doesn’t like it.”  
All Might blinks before continuing.  
“Because I didn’t help him back then.”  
“Exactly.”  
“I admit, I don’t fully understand your relationship with these three students, but I assure you that I was not consulted on the student’s treatment. I was caught off guard when seeing him like that and decided that simply getting the whole situation over with as quick as possible would be better than causing a scene right there.”

Greed is fuming because it does make sense. But that also means he can’t keep hating on All Might and doesn’t have anyone to direct this old anger at. Aizawa is still close to him, ready to hold him back if he decides to kill the other man anyways. Greed doesn’t. He may be a murderer, but he’s not going to murder someone innocent. Even if All Might also fucked up when Katsuki was kidnapped.

“Fine. I believe you. But next time you rescue a student you better ask them if they’re okay instead of telling them how brave they were, got it?”  
All Might doesn’t even blink at the sudden second accusation.  
“Of course. I realise how that may have not been the best choice of words.”  
“Fucking right.”  
Deciding he doesn’t want to talk to the blond anymore, he focuses on Aizawa.  
“Can you stop hovering? I won’t murder him. How about we talk about that date-”  
“Leave the gym now,” Aizawa says calmly, voice tired.  
For some stupid reason Greed is kind of hurt to be thrown out like that, but he doesn’t show it of course, just smirks.  
“Fine, but don’t forget about it!”  
“It’s not a date.”  
“Yes, yes, I know.”

Greed turns his back to the teachers and walks towards the exit. It bothers him that Aizawa isn’t saying no but also isn’t saying yes. He wants to…  
Fuck he’s not even sure anymore. This started out as wanting to get into the man’s pants, and it’s not like he doesn’t want that anymore, but now he also… wants to, like, hold his hand or some shit. Go to that café again and just talk. Watch a movie and cuddle.  
Fuck no. This cannot be happening. He cannot be fucking falling for a pro-hero. How does one stop those feelings? Alcohol? He should not waste money on that, especially because he never stays drunk for very long thanks to his quirk.  
He’s so fucked…   
Deciding that just not thinking about it anymore for now might help, he makes his way to the nearest broom closet. He’ll just sweep floors until all he can think about is how dirty this fucking school is because of all these students.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple things:  
> 1) Thank you to sheepheadfred for pointing out that All Might was probably just caught off guard at the sports festival and wanted to get it over with asap instead of making it a big deal, and that he probably didn't not do anything because he thought it was okay what they did
> 
> 2) Greed and I both know that when All Might was there with Katsuki at the Kamino Arc there was not really time to chit chat, but he did tell him he was so brave, so there would have been time to ask him if he's okay instead, even if Katsuki was yelling at him, that's just something you do in my opinion  
> Yeah, I just have many emotions and lots of love for Katsuki, so I'm a little bitter about some things, just like Greed! :D
> 
> 3) I cannot WAIT for you to read the next chapter, it's the second Greedzawa date-not-date 😏  
> Let me share Greed's outfit of choice already, aka the first two sentences of the next chapter:
> 
> Greed showered, put on some eyeliner again, and is wearing a tight grey shirt and white jeans. He will seduce Aizawa tonight or make him fully reject him so his mind can finally calm down.
> 
> We will see which one of those will happen, huh 😏😏


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greedzawa and the second date-not-date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: panic attack & connected to it dissociation, cursing
> 
> The panic attack and dissociating is kinda detailed I'd say, so just be careful, okay? <3  
> If you want to just read the date without the panic attack, you can read until (minor spoilers for the chapter) Greed goes outside and read again when Aizawa says "Hey, are you back with me?" (marked with *), but they still talk about it, so if you want to be totally safe, read after Aizawa says "Come back inside" (marked with **) or after the ---- break
> 
> tags:  
> Greed needs a break  
> Greed is bad at feelings  
> Greed needs a hug

Greed showered, put on some eyeliner again, and is wearing a tight grey shirt and white jeans. He will seduce Aizawa tonight or make him fully reject him so his mind can finally calm down.  
He’s at UA gates at seven, on time this time, and Aizawa is there to let him in (even though Greed has his own keycard) and to lead him to the dorm building. Greed looks around curiously. The kids have to mostly keep their dorms clean on their own, so unless something breaks or is especially dirty, he doesn’t go into them. He’s not been in the 1A one yet.

He gets even more curious when they don’t go to the main entrance, but walk around the building.  
“Are you sneaking me in through the back like your dirty little secret?” Greed asks, smirking.  
“I don’t want the kids to gossip.”  
“Aww, I feel kind of touched that I’d be worthy of gossip. I wonder what they would think we’re doing in your apartment.”  
Before he can make the dirty joke that’s on the tip of his tongue, Aizawa slaps a hand to his mouth.  
“Voice your thoughts and movie night is cancelled.”  
Greed pouts and then licks Aizawa’s palm.

The man pulls his hand away with a disgusted expression, wipes it on his shirt and unlocks the door at the side of the building.  
“Fucking behave.”  
Still pouting, Greed follows him inside, takes off his shoes and looks around the small but nice place. They’re in a little hallway and he can see part of the living room and kitchen ahead, and a door on the left and one on the right.  
“Which one is your bedroom?” he asks, an innocent smile on his lips.  
Aizawa points to the door on the right.  
“This one is the bathroom, the other room is off limits for you.”  
“Fine, no bedroom privileges for me.”

They walk into the living room and Greed flops down on the couch, almost crushing a big, fluffy grey cat by accident.  
“Oh fuck, sorry there little one.” He runs his fingers over the cat’s head.  
“Let me guess. You’re Cloud. You look like that could be your name.”  
“It is,” Aizawa confirms, watching them from a few feet away. Greed smiles at him, no smirk or grin, just an honest smile that pulls at his lips in that moment.  
“I love her.”  
“Him.”  
“I love him. He’s so fluffy. Might just steal him from you.”  
He leans down and rubs his nose against the cat’s forehead carefully, smiling even wider when the cat licks his chin.  
When he looks back at Aizawa, his cheeks are faintly red, and he seems to be holding back a smile of his own.  
“If you steal my cats you’re a dead man. What do you want to drink?”  
“Whatever you have to offer, I’m not picky.”  
“I’ll make us some tea then. Pick the first movie.”  
Aizawa points at the pile of DVDs on the coffee table and Greed nods.

After the other man left the living room, he doesn’t move though. He curls up on the couch, his head next to Cloud, and just listens to him purr, one hand resting on the cat’s back.  
He drifts off, and is woken by Aizawa shaking him.  
“You’re already sleeping and we haven’t even started watching yet?”  
“Didn’t sleep, just rested my eyes.”  
“Sure. Did you at least pick a movie?”  
Greed didn’t, so he just looks at the pile and points at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  
“That’s the oldest one, isn’t it? Let’s start with that.”

A few minutes later they’re sitting on the couch with Cloud between them, a steaming cup of tea in each of their hands, the movie starting on the small TV.  
Greed sips tea and keeps his eyes focused on the screen. It’s a little bit awkward for a while until his mug is empty and he puts it on the coffee table. Then he forces himself to just relax into the couch and chill. They’re just watching a movie. No reason to be nervous. Aizawa didn’t even dress up for him, he’s wearing pink sweatpants and a black shirt, hair down. But he still looks so damn good.  
Yeah, he should not think about the other’s looks right now, he has to focus on the movie. His seduction plan has completely left his mind.  
Greed’s hand moves to Cloud and he runs gentle fingers through his long fur for a while until his hand hits another one and his heart skips a beat. Aizawa doesn’t pull his hand away, so Greed keeps his own there as well, resting half on top of the other man’s. He’s no coward, he won’t back down first.  
Aizawa is the one who keeps reminding him that it’s not a date when they hang out, so he should be the first to break contact.

But the other man isn’t pulling away, even after five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour. By the end of the movie, their hands are still lying in that initial position on the (by now sleeping) cat. Greed really needs to change his seating position because his left leg is half asleep, but he’s too stubborn to move first. The credits roll and are over, and they’re still not moving.  
It takes another two minutes, then Aizawa clears his throat and gets up, pulling his hand out from underneath Greed’s.  
“I’m picking the next one.”  
Greed nods, blinking, willing his heart to calm down. His brain is racing around the question what this means, what he wants it to mean, and he gets up and stretches, walking up and down in front of the couch to wake his leg, before settling back down more comfortably.  
He doesn’t see which movie the other picks and also doesn’t ask, deciding to just let it surprise him.  
Aizawa returns to the couch and looks at Greed for a moment before sitting down again - on Greed’s other side where there is no cat separating them.  
This dancing around each other and the elephant in the room is making Greed antsy. He just wants to finally know if he has a definite chance or not. He’s not fucking patient. But there’s also something holding him back from being more direct than he already is. Maybe he’s… almost a little scared of his emotions and showing them to Aizawa, of opening up.

He can’t think about it much more because the other man takes his hand and intertwines their fingers, and Greed’s brain screeches to a halt and stops working for the next half hour.  
When he tunes back in to reality, he recognises the movie as Peter Pan, and a bitter feeling settles in his throat. He and Envy used to watch this one every time their hideout had a TV and they could sneak there at night with the DVD he’d stolen from a shop.  
His grip on Aizawa’s hand tightens unconsciously, and eventually the man looks over at him frowning.  
“Are you alright?”  
“I think I need fresh air,” Greed presses out and gets up, hand slipping from Aizawa’s.  
He hurries down the hallway to the backdoor and doesn’t bother with shoes.

The cool night air greets him, but he still can’t seem to get enough of it into his lungs. His legs don’t want to carry him anymore, and he flops down on the steps in front of the door, hugging his knees to his chest.

Greed sits there, staring at the trees across from him. His breathing is coming in gasps and he’s not quite sure what’s happening. He feels like he’s dying, and it scares him, but he doesn’t know how to stop it.  
His mind is screaming at him, showing him Envy as a child, Envy from a few days ago, replaying their fight. He hurt his brother. He could have killed him. Killed him like he killed those criminals while looking for Katsuki. Envy could be dead like the man he stepped on… He feels sick.  
Envy… He joined another group of villains because Greed left him. If he had brought him along, his brother could maybe have gone to school here and become the hero he wanted to be until their father ruined that dream for him.

His thoughts are swirling and he can hear the blood rushing in his ears. There’s not getting enough oxygen into his lungs, but he’s starting to feel kind of detached from it all, like he’s watching himself from above, gasping and tearing at his hair. Should he focus more? But why? His body seems to be having a hard time, he doesn’t want to join that shitshow. He should completely detach himself and float free in the dark. Who needs a corporal body anyways?  
His breathing is still too loud in the quiet night. Is he passing out? Is that why he feels so weightless?  
It’s almost like when Ling used his quirk on him…

Steadily, Greed isn’t feeling much anymore. He knows he should, fear, embarrassment, worry, but it’s all just gone. He feels numb, trapped outside his own brain, listening to his own erratic breaths he’s not controlling anymore.

Then, almost as if he’s under water, there’s a distorted voice and his attention narrows in on it.

“Greed? Can you hear me?”  
Aizawa. He wants to grin and flirt, tell him the date is going great, they held hands after all! But he can’t, not when he’s still floating in empty space, while his body is shutting down.  
“I’m here, can you focus on my voice?”  
There’s the desire to laugh at him because he’s already focused on it, it’s the one thing his mind is clinging to in this sea of nothingness.

The other man continues talking. He tells him about working on the special moves with his class, about patrol, about the License Exam that’s coming up and how he’s worried about some of his students and if they’ll pass.  
And slowly, Greed’s mind seems to remember that he needs to focus on his body, control it, live in it.  
He feels the cold steps under his legs and his feet which are only covered with socks, his hands in his hair, the pain of tugging at it too tightly for too long, the wind on his clammy skin. It all helps ground him, and finally, he manages to relax his hands and place them in his lap.

*****

“Hey, are you back with me?” Aizawa’s voice is gentle but worried, and Greed huffs.  
“Obviously.”  
His defenses are snapping back up as he slowly realises what situation he’s in. He had an embarrassing panic attack or something, and Aizawa witnessed it all.  
It takes a lot of self control to not snap up his literal shield to protect himself from the humiliation.

“Do you have panic attacks often?”  
This is dangerous territory. Emotions, feelings, trauma. That’s shit he doesn’t like to explore, so he scoffs.  
“That wasn’t a panic attack. I just had a quick freakout because I didn’t sleep enough for like a month or so.”  
It’s bullshit, they both know that, even if it may have played a part in it, but it doesn’t matter either way.  
Greed gets up.  
“I should go.”

Aizawa’s expression is unreadable, but he doesn’t stand up or react in any way.  
Greed isn’t sure if he wants him to stop him or not. He feels weak and embarrassed and kind of like he needs to cry to get his body back into default setting because right now everything about him is just weird and wrong, not like himself.  
He wants Ling to give him a hug, Katsuki to insult him and Denki to babble about one of his english novels excitedly.

******

“Come back inside,” Aizawa finally says, voice low and kind. “I’ll make you some more tea. Cloud is the best cuddle partner after a… _freakout_.”  
Greed bites his lip harshly to stop himself from lashing out immediately. Red lightning sparks up to heal the broken skin. He thinks of his empty apartment and then of the comfortable couch and the fluffy cat and Aizawa’s hand in his. Maybe the second cat will show up too.

He doesn’t say anything, just nods and steps to the door. Aizawa gets up and unlocks it. They walk back to the living room in silence, and Greed sits down again, immediately starting to pet the cat.  
The other man leaves, probably to make more tea.

The rest of the evening they don’t talk, there’s just some pre-quirk era action movie playing that’s on TV. Greed is lying curled up next to Cloud, face buried in his fur, and one of Aizawa’s hands is resting on his back, keeping him grounded.

He falls asleep, wondering if this will be the last date because he ruined it by showing weakness.

\----

The next morning Greed wakes up alone on the couch and stares at the ceiling for a few moments. Oh no. Last night should not have ended like this.  
Panic shoots through him and he gets up as quickly and quietly as he can, and is relieved when he can't see or hear Aizawa. He probably went to sleep in his bed at some point.  
Greed decides to save them both the embarrassment of confronting each other after this and leaves, using his own school key card to get out without any alarms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this ended not the way Greed wanted it to end, huh  
> And this is why there's a tag saying "Greed is bad at feelings"
> 
> On a... little lighter note I guess?  
> Your traitor guesses so far are really fun to read, let me just give you a list of people that have been mentioned so far that could be "Blondie, their informant from UA"  
> \- Denki Kaminari  
> \- Neito Monoma  
> \- Present Mic  
> \- Yuuga Aoyama
> 
> Interesting, interesting, I won't confirm or deny anything of course because spoilers, but yes, those are the ones I read so far, I hope I didn't forget anyone!


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing
> 
> Lee wants me to tell the people who write comments: They love you and wanna squeeze you because it brings them great joy how excited I get when I read your comments and then proceed to scream at them how amazing your comments are :D  
> Also, they're really glad you're reading my fanfic despite all the angsty ideas they accidentally gave me, and let me tell you, you're in for a ride!  
> More important info at the end of the chapter so you can finally read this

The next two days, Greed and Aizawa don’t talk, and then on the third they both just pretend as if that evening never happened. Greed flirts like before and Aizawa blocks his every attempt again.

Somehow the knowledge that he was so emotional and weak around the other man scares Greed. He showed him too much, and now Aizawa knows that he’s a fucking wreck underneath everything. Greed’s self confidence is suffering, and he compensates by just flirting even more, not only with Aizawa, but also at the bar with customers. It earns him a lot of tips, so it’s not too bad, but his boss doesn’t like it very much. If he doesn’t stop he’ll probably be fired, but his exhausted brain can’t seem to stop this whole defensive mode.

Currently, Greed is outside carrying trash bags to the dumpsters, thinking about the time Aizawa helped him with this task and he told him about Katsuki hating the old apartment. It feels like it’s been years since then, but that was only two, almost three months ago. And in this time he managed to fucking fall in love. Fuck.  
He looks up to throw the bags away and spots blond hair next to the dumpster. For a moment he thinks it might be Katsuki or Denki, but it’s not quite their hair colour, and then he recognises the kid.  
“Monoma, right?”  
The boy spins around and frowns at him.  
“Yes. You’re Greed the janitor. Ling’s… whatever.”  
“Parent, yes. I’m Ling’s parent.”  
Greed throws the bags into the dumpster and then turns to Monoma again.  
“What are you doing here, kid? Don’t you have training soon?”  
“In an hour.”

Crossing his arms, Greed watches him.  
“So, how do you like Ling’s quirk?”  
“I haven’t seen it yet since he trains with class A. He just told me about it.”  
Monoma’s face is sour. Ah, the class rivalry.  
“Don’t be mad at him for training with the _enemy_.” Greed winks. “He needs to practice his quirk and for that he needs Denki and Katsuki.”  
“No idea how he ever formed an emotional bond with those idiots.”  
“Hey, remember that they’re my kids. I don’t like hearing others talk badly about them,” he warns, keeping his voice neutral. Monoma frowns at him but doesn’t reply.  
“So, you didn’t tell me why you’re here by the dumpsters.”  
“I just wanted some time alone.”

Something seems off, but Greed can’t put his finger on it.  
“Remember what I told you, kid, okay? You can talk to me if you want.”  
“Whatever.”  
“Want to hide in my office?”  
“You have an office?”  
“Well, it’s just a room with a desk and cleaning supplies really. But you can hide there if you want.”  
“What makes you think I’m hiding?”  
“Just a hunch. If you don’t want to, that’s fine, I gotta go back to work now though.”

He turns around.  
“Wait. Fine. I’ll go to your office.”  
Greed smirks but doesn’t turn back to the kid, just starts walking, listening to the footsteps of Monoma following him.

Once in his office, he sits at his desk and points at the bucket in the corner.  
“You can sit there, I have to do some paperwork.”  
“I thought you meant I could be here alone until training.”  
“I won’t ask any more questions. You can pretend you’re alone.”  
Monoma frowns but flips the bucket and sits down, leaning against the wall.  
Greed opens the files he has to look through and tries to focus on it, but his thoughts keep wandering to the kid in the room with him. But he told him he wouldn’t pry, and he doesn’t want to break the fragile trust they hopefully have, considering Monoma agreed to being here with him.

At least worrying about Monoma is distracting him from Aizawa. Well, it was. Now that he thought that, he’s thinking about the man again, and a sigh pushes through his lips. He hides his face in his hands and tries to clear his mind again.

“You okay there?”  
“Yeah yeah, don’t worry about me, kid.”  
“Sounds like you say that a lot.”  
Greed grins humorlessly and raises his face from his hands to look at Monoma.  
“Possibly. But you’re not telling me about your issues, so there’s no way I’m telling you about mine.”  
Monoma frowns at him.  
"I don't have issues. I'm perfectly fine! Why shouldn't I be? I'm in class B, we're much better than class A."  
Greed studies him. 

"You're nervous," he realises. "Because of the License Exam."  
"I just told you I'm fine! Why would I have to be nervous with a quirk like mine?"  
"Because like Ling, you need other people to use it. You depend on them."  
Monoma's face is a mixture of angry and barely held together arrogance that's so clearly fake Greed almost wants to laugh.  
"You think you know me, but you don't! So don't talk like you do!" 

Shit, didn't he want to preserve the fragile trust they had? Well, too late now. He might as well push on at this point.

"Then tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you don't sometimes hate your quirk because without other people you're basically quirkless. Tell me people didn't call you useless because of your quirk before and constantly look down on you."  
He realises that he made a mistake about a second later because the pain on Monoma's face at his words breaks his heart.  
Without another thought, Greed gets up and walks over to the kid who's shaking with either held back anger or tears or both.

"I'm sorry, kid, I shouldn't have been so direct, I should've just dropped it."  
Monoma keeps his lips pressed together tightly, and Greed kneels down in front of the bucket he's sitting on. 

"Those who say that to you are wrong. You're a smart kid who believes in his friends. Even without your quirk you'd come up with something helpful, I’m sure."  
Greed reaches out and puts a hand on Monoma's arm.  
"You should talk to Ling about this, you could help each other."  
Monoma doesn't reply verbally, but he shrugs and then nods. Greed knows what's up from growing up with Envy. When he doesn't have a grip on his emotions and doesn't want to cry, he can't speak because opening his mouth would just let everything out and he'd break down crying.

So, he doesn't push Monoma to talk, just squeezes his arm gently and then checks the time.  
"You got half an hour. I'll get you something to drink and then you'll train and show yourself that you're not useless. You're a good kid and you'll easily pass your exam, okay?"  
Monoma bites his lip.  
"Oh no, no, no self doubt. You are amazing and you'll show the other people at the test that you're not someone to underestimate. You use quirks you didn't grow up with. Do you know how impressive that is? Your body can adapt to any quirk in a matter of seconds and you use it without any beforehand training. If that's not a sign that you're gonna be a great hero one day then I don't know what is."

There's the smallest hint of a smile on the kid's face and Greed grins.  
"If you need me to hype up your ego some more you're always welcome here. I'll kick those self doubts out of your brain. Now, what do you want from the vending machine? Water? Orange juice? Soda?"  
Monoma clears his throat.  
"Orange juice, thank you."  
"Orange juice it is. I'm right back, no peeking at the files."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to slow down the posting so I can make the chapters a little longer and because there's a lot of complicated plotting ahead  
> Also, I have to study for an exam soon coz I failed it the first time and have to retake it, haha  
> I'm thinking 2 or 3 times a week, I hope that is okay with you all, I did really enjoy posting daily, but maybe if it's a little less there's more anticipation and excitement too. I promise I'll try not to let any chapters end on too evil cliffhangers because I really don't wanna be mean!
> 
> Let me know what you think, for now the plan is for the next chapter to be posted on Tuesday, then one Friday, and maybe one Sunday, but rn I'm leaning towards twice a week, so yeah  
> So I'll see you on Tuesday again, hope you're not disappointed, and I'll of course answer your comments asap still! You can also follow me on Twitter if you wanna read me talk about random stuff and occasionally about this fic, especially when Lee gives me another super angsty but amazing idea! @xLivesInBooks (I'm not tweeting spoilers of course!)
> 
> See you and thank you for your support <3


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed is seriously sleep deprived - and there's always consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood, minor injuries, light burns, cursing
> 
> Hello! It's not even been two days but I missed you! 🥺🥺  
> I have a question that's kinda important:  
> Do you want me to add important tags that will be important for future chapters now already so those of you who don't vibe with them can stop reading now before you get too invested? They would not directly spoil but give you an insight of some of the stuff that's to come. I'm mainly thinking of one tag I kinda wanna add as a heads up, you know? So what do you think?
> 
> (this chapter isn't much longer yet coz it's one of the ones I still had pre-written, I'll try to make the upcoming ones longer)

Greed is carrying the heavy ladder, face scrunched up in annoyance. Even though the term hasn’t started officially yet, the students are causing havoc in the dorms. Like class 2B who broke the light in the living room this morning because they trained inside the building.  
So now Greed has to go fix that and he does not want to. It’s not that it’s particularly difficult, but he was about to take a little nap in his office, and now he can’t. He’s exhausted.

When he finally reaches his destination, he places the large ladder on the floor and takes the new lightbulb out of his pocket. According to the teacher who told him to fix it (he doesn't remember names, it was the one with the rock head) the power is shut off in this room so he won't get electrocuted.  
Sighing, Greed climbs up the ladder, pauses halfway to yawn, and then continues his way up. Why are the ceilings so fucking high in this school?  
The old lightbulb is broken and still hot, but Greed twists it out of the lamp anyways, ignoring the pain while his quirk heals it slowly. Too slowly. He frowns and stares at his burnt fingertips. He desperately needs that nap when he’s done.  
Just when he’s finished screwing in the new lightbulb, his eyelids droop and he shakes his head to focus, but that causes him to lose balance, and he falls, holding on to the ladder instinctively, and pulling it down with him.  
The old lightbulb gets crushed in his hand as he lands, head hitting the floor hard, ladder landing partly on his chest, knocking the breath out of him. He blinks a few times.  
"Well fuck," he then groans and reaches into his hair with his hand that's not impaled with a hundred tiny shards of glass.  
He feels sticky wetness at the back of his head and sighs tiredly. He does not have the energy to heal that right now.

There's a scream and then footsteps and then voices and more footsteps and he's too exhausted to care. Maybe he should take a nap right here.  
"Don't tell the principal," he mumbles grinning and closes his eyes.

\----

When Greed wakes up again, he's lying in a bed and wonders if he dreamed of the ladder incident. But his body aches as he sits up and looks around. He's in the hospital room at UA. He's never been here, but both the nurse and Aizawa are there, looking at him sternly.  
"Oh hello," Greed says, amused, and rubs his face. Both of his hands are bandaged and he can feel one around his head too. That makes him frown.

"What's wrong with my quirk?"  
"I'd like to ask you the same," the nurse (is her name Recovery Girl?) says, arms crossed. "Your body barely has energy to heal itself even when I use my quirk on you."  
"Oh. I may have not slept properly in a while. Been busy, you know, how one gets."  
"What's a while?" Aizawa asks, frowning.  
"I took a ten minute nap in my office yesterday. Don't tell Nedzu."  
"When did you last sleep for more than five hours?" The man really isn't giving Greed a break. He rolls his eyes.  
"That night on your couch, six days ago."  
His eyes flick to Recovery Girl.  
"Oh wait, we're not talking about that."  
"Just shut up. How can you be so irresponsible?"

Recovery Girl leaves them quietly, probably sure that Aizawa will scold him enough on his own.

"I don't have time to sleep!"  
"Everyone has time to sleep, what are you doing at night? Hooking up with people?"  
"No, I'm working!"  
“Where do you work all night long?”  
“A bar, and I don’t work the whole night, but I have to take the train since we moved, so it takes longer.”

Greed yawns and rubs his eyes. “I was about to take a nap in my office when the brats had to go and break that stupid light.”  
“You need a good night’s sleep.”  
At Aizawa’s kind tone, Greed’s head snaps up, eyes narrowing. He’s not in the mood to be babied.  
“I wish I had time for that, really. But one of the other bartenders is sick, so I’m covering for him. It pays well.” His tone is maybe a bit too harsh, but he’s tired and sore and embarrassed because he really almost broke his neck falling from a ladder.  
“Anyway, I have to go back to work.”

He swings his legs over the edge of the bed and gets up on wobbly feet. His head is pounding and his ribs ache.  
Aizawa grabs his arm and when Greed looks at him, he has to look away again quickly. They’re too close and Aizawa’s face is too soft. He’d rather have him be mean to him right now.  
“I’ll take you home. You’re done for today, you need to rest.”  
“There’s still rooms to clean and-”  
“No, you can do that tomorrow.” Aizawa is using a stern voice that Greed can only call the ‘dad voice’. The other man is really using the parental tone on him, damn, that means he seriously fucked up.  
“Fine, but I can go home alone.”  
“Shut up, you can barely keep your eyes open.”

So, Greed gives up and lets Aizawa half drag half lead him out of the nurse’s office and down the hallway.  
“Hey, did the nurse take the glass out of my hand?” he asks as he suddenly remembers his quirk's drawback. Panic fills him and he starts pulling at the bandage of his left hand to check. He does not want to live with glass in his palm.  
Aizawa stops walking and grabs his hands.  
“Stop, leave them on. Yes, she took them all out. Why?”  
Relief floods him.  
“Well, if I heal around foreign objects, they become part of my body and grow back when you remove them. I have an infinite supply of belly button piercings.” He grins when Aizawa raises an eyebrow.  
“You have a piercing?”  
Greed wiggles his eyebrows and Aizawa narrows his eyes, so he stops again and just nods.  
“Yeah, it helped me find out about this unfortunate side effect of my quirk.”  
“No more piercings after that?”  
“No, I decided that one is more than enough because fifteen year old me was very wrong. I will not _definitely rock a pierced belly button even when I’m old_.”

With a quiet snort, Aizawa grabs Greed’s upper arm again and they continue walking.  
His hand feels warm on Greed’s skin (he's once again not wearing the top part of the ugly grey work overall, it's tied around his waist with the sleeves, and with his sleeveless shirt on, his arms are exposed), and he’s really relaxed because he knows that even if he falls asleep right here in this moment, the other will catch him and save him from - probably another - concussion.  
Greed shakes his head lightly and ignores the pounding. He should not be thinking about Aizawa’s hands or the man in general.  
They mutually agreed (without ever actually talking about it) to just go back to before, and before means meaningless flirting from Greed and small rejections but not a definite rejection from Aizawa.  
No mushy feelings about the other man’s grip being the perfect balance of secure but gentle.

Fucking hell, he needs to stop thinking.

They exit the school building and walk towards the parking lot. Greed never thought about it, but it makes sense that Aizawa has a car. It’s a small black one, and somehow it fits him. Simple and unobtrusive.

\----

During the drive, Greed looks out the window and kind of drifts off a little, snapping back to reality when Aizawa parks the car.  
They climb out and walk into the building, there they take the elevator up to the apartment. Greed fumbles a bit with the keys and yawns again.  
“I need coffee,” he mumbles when he finally manages to open the door. They walk inside.  
“No. You need sleep.”  
“Oh, and how will you make sure I go to bed?”

Greed looks at him challenging, and Aizawa looks back for a moment before determination fills his eyes. It worries Greed.

The other man takes out his phone and dials a number.  
“Hey Mic, can you take over training with my class today? It’s in an hour, but I have to do something else and don’t know yet how long I need.”

A red hue appears on the man’s cheeks and Greed frowns, wondering what Mic is saying.  
“Just take care of my class. Please? … Thank you. … Yes okay, I’ll call you later. … Fine, whatever. … Fuck you. Bye.”

Greed crosses his arms.  
“What? You’ll make sure I go to bed and then what? Stay with me so I don’t get up?”  
When Aizawa just nods, Greed’s mouth falls open and he blinks a few times.  
Then, he grins.  
“Let’s hope I don’t have another freakout. Wait, again, we’re not talking about that.”  
“If you want to, we can. We can’t ignore it forever.”  
“Actually, we can.”

Without waiting for an answer, he turns around and makes his way to the kitchen.

“No coffee,” Aizawa calls after him, clear warning in his voice.  
“Yeah yeah, just a glass of water. My head is killing me. Are you sure it’s even safe for me to sleep?”  
“Yes, Recovery Girl said you can and should sleep because your body will start to heal again and there’s no risks involved.”  
“Awesome.”

After drinking a glass of water (and not offering one to Aizawa since he’s annoyed with him babying him), Greed yawns and rubs his eyes.  
“Fine, I’ll take a nap.”  
“No, you’ll sleep, a nap won’t be enough.”  
Groaning, but knowing arguing won’t help, he accepts his fate and puts the glass into the sink.  
“Fine you fucking mother hen.”

\----

A shower and an outfit change later, Greed glares at Aizawa who’s watching him from the doorway.  
“Are you going to stare at me the whole time? Because I doubt I’ll fall asleep if you do that.”  
He flops down on his bed and looks at his grey pyjama pants. Maybe he should’ve walked into the room completely naked. That might have scared the other man off.  
But he’s not even looking at his chest which is very much naked, so maybe he would’ve just not acknowledged it all.

“This is your own fault for not taking care of yourself,” Aizawa says in a matter-of-fact tone, and Greed kind of wants to strangle him. Instead, he slips under his blanket and continues to glare angrily.

They continue their silent stare-off for another minute before Aizawa rolls his eyes.  
“Just sleep. I’ll be looking at my phone.”  
“No cuddling?”  
Greed looks at him challenging and can see the man struggle internally for a moment.  
“No.”

But he walks to the bed and sits on the floor next to it, leaning his back against the frame and head against the mattress by Greed’s pillow.  
It makes Greed blink surprised, but then he huffs and gets comfortable, facing the back of Aizawa’s head.  
His eyes close after a few moments and he sighs, relaxing. He can hear the other tap on his phone and breathe, and it soothes him.  
One of his hands moves and finds Aizawa’s head. The tapping stops and Greed pauses. When Aizawa stays quiet, he gently runs his fingers through his hair and relaxes again, slowly drifting off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the chapter! Greed is a dumbass, he needs to learn to take care of himself  
> Also, Lee said Aizawa doesn't really look like he takes care of his appearance, so his hair is probably greasy, but he possibly (come on, we can all see it by now can't we? he definitely does.) has a crush on Greed so I like to think he's starting to take a bit more care of himself aka washing his hair regularly and stuff, yeah  
> He just needs proper motivation 🥺
> 
> Here's the whole phone call with Mic for my favourite readers:
> 
> “Hey Mic, can you take over training with my class today? It’s in an hour, but I have something else to do and don’t know yet how long I need.”  
> "I saw you leave with Greed. He won't happen to be the reason for your... absence?"  
> “Just take care of my class. Please?  
> "Fine, I'll do it."  
> "Thank you."  
> "You owe me though! I don't know yet how you'll have to pay me back, but you do."  
> "Yes okay, I’ll call you later.  
> "And I demand you tell me what's going on with you and our janitor. I won't leave you alone until you do, and you know I can be very persistent!"  
> "Fine, whatever."  
> "Amazing, I'm not letting you off the hook about this! Now go get him, tiger."  
> "Fuck you. Bye.”
> 
> Friday: Provisional hero license exam, mainly the aftermath (you know what I'm talking about)


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post Provisional Hero License Exam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of bullying & suicide baiting (taken from canon, it's about what Bakugou did & said to Midoriya in middle school), mention & brief discussion of unhealthy eating habits, cursing  
> Spoiler warning: Provisional Hero License Exam, Deku vs. Kacchan 2
> 
> This was originally two chapters, but I decided to smash them together and give you a long chapter! Have fun!

Yesterday evening when Greed woke up again, Aizawa left without them talking about it. he just said goodbye and walked away, and Greed let him, not sure what to do anymore.   
But this time he can't brood over it much because he's busy staring at his phone on his desk nervously, worrying the hem of his shirt between his fingers.  
It should be anytime now. He checks the clock again. Any minute.   
When a message pops up he grabs the phone and unlocks it in record time, opening it. 

**Chaos Family**

**first brat** : We're done

Greed stares at the message. So? No more information?   
Before he can reply, he gets a private message. 

**electric brat** : Ling and I passed but Katsuki didn't, he's upset but trying to play it cool

Well fuck. The one of them who needs an ego boost the most, failed. 

**Greed** : Tell him to meet me in my office when you're back

He gets a reply five minutes later. 

**electric brat** : he says go fuck yourself…   
**electric brat** : maybe he just needs some space

Greed sighs and rubs his face. 

**Greed** : Fine  
 **Greed** : I'm very proud of you and Ling by the way  
 **electric brat** : thanks!!

\----

Greed talks briefly with Ling and Denki when they're back, but Katsuki seems to be hiding from him. He doesn't like it, but he won't force the kid to open up.

Instead, he finds Monoma in the 1B dorms after his chat with Ling and grins.   
"Ling said everyone in class B passed?"   
"Yes, because unlike 1A we're actually skilled and not just arrogant assholes."  
Greed raises an eyebrow at Monoma who frowns and then makes a disgusted face and looks to the side.   
"Sorry, I heard one of the idiots you're parenting failed. I'll stop insulting them to your face."   
"Thanks, kid. I actually just wanted to tell you that you did a good job. I'm proud of you."

Monoma stares at him then, nose and cheeks dusted a pale pink.   
"What?"   
"I'm proud of you for getting your licence. You showed them that you'll be a great hero."  
The boy seems lost for words and it makes Greed just grin even brighter.  
"Want to hear it again? I'm very proud of you, Monoma."   
"Shut up, I heard it the first time," the kid snaps, but his eyes are sparkling.

Greed makes a mental note to praise all the students more in general. They deserve to hear that their efforts are paying off, even if it's just the janitor saying it.

"Alright, I gotta go. Feel free to come by my office any time."  
"Okay."   
With a small wave of his hand, Greed spins around and leaves the building.  
Outside, he stops and takes a deep breath, worry about Katsuki returning.   
He hopes he's okay.

\----

Greed gets a call from Aizawa at night.  
He's at the bar, scrubbing glasses clean when his phone rings and he blinks a few times before picking up.

"Hello? I'm flattered you're calling so late, but I'm at work."   
"You asked me to keep you updated on your kids."   
Almost dropping it in his haste, Greed puts the glass down.   
"Did something happen?"   
"Katsuki and Midoriya fought in one of the training areas. Nobody is very hurt, but I put them on house arrest. All Might found them and said your kid had an emotional breakdown about All Might losing his powers. It seems like he blames himself."   
"Fuck." 

Greed is such an idiot. He should've talked to him. Katsuki had been clearly upset, especially now after failing the licence test, but he thought the kid would appreciate space and time.   
Apparently not, and Greed failed him as a parent. 

"I'm on my way."   
"It's late and you're at work."   
"So what? He needs me now. I should've gotten him to open up way sooner. And you called me instead of waiting until tomorrow." 

Aizawa is silent for a moment.  
"I think he does need you right now," he then says. "I'd talk to him myself, but we don't have that level of trust. And I don't want to wake Denki or Ling."   
"See? I'm on my way." 

Greed turns around to find his boss, but he's there already, looking at him with tired eyes.   
"You're not on your way. I'm sorry, Greed, but your performance has been really lacking recently, so I can't let you go early tonight."   
Forgetting that his phone is still in his hand with Aizawa on the line, Greed frowns. 

"Excuse me? I need to get to my son."   
"You have a son? I thought you only have brothers."   
"It's complicated. But he needs me so I need to go. I've been here every single night for a week now, I can leave today."   
"No. I gave you so much freedom here, Greed. You disappeared for three days and I gave you your job back as if nothing happened. You constantly flirt with our guests to an almost inappropriate degree, but I didn't fire you. If you want to leave right now, you're not coming back. I need reliable workers without an attitude."  
"You fucking… You let me go once to help him, why can't I go and come back tomorrow?"   
"Because last time you completely disappeared for three days. I don't want to repeat that."   
"You won't! Fuck! Don't you have kids? Wouldn't you go running when you get a call at night that they need you?" 

The older man looks torn, but then he shakes his head.   
"I'm sorry, Greed, but either you finish your shift or you're fired."   
Seething with rage, Greed throws the glass he'd been polishing, at the wall.   
"Fuck you. You're not firing me. I quit. This bar stinks anyways." 

He grabs his vest where it's hanging on the back of a chair and then storms outside.

"Greed?"  
It's quiet and he startles and looks at the phone in his hand hanging by his side. Fuck. Aizawa.   
He contemplates just ending the call, but instead, he holds the phone up to his ear. 

"I forgot to hang up."   
"I figured."   
"You happy now? Without this job I can sleep through the night."   
"That does make me… kind of happy."  
Greed swallows against the sudden lump in his throat.   
"It also means I make less money."   
"You worry too much about it. I know how much you earn at UA and how much your apartment rent probably is. You're fine. You need to take a deep breath. You're doing fine." 

Greed's feet keep carrying him to the train station, but the rest of his body is focused on Aizawa. 

“But I need that extra money-” He can’t help the slight panic in his voice.  
“Not as desperately as you make it seem. Breathe, Greed. Just breathe and think about it.”

After a moment of hesitation, he breathes in deeply. Yes. He makes a nice amount of money at UA. He's fine. He needs to stop obsessing over earning more and more money. He needs to stop being so… so _greedy_. Another deep breath, and his chest feels a little lighter. For now there's only worry about Katsuki in there. 

"Thank you," he mumbles. The other doesn't reply, and it's silent when Greed reaches the train station and buys a ticket.  
He listens to Aizawa breathing while he waits for the train, and then once he gets on it, he sighs.   
"Okay, I should think about what to say to Katsuki."   
"Text me when you're here, I'll let you in."   
"I have a key card."   
"You don't know the way to his room."   
"Fair enough. Fine. See you."   
"See you."

\----

Aizawa meets him at the gates and lets him in. He gives Greed a once over and then starts walking, not saying anything. Greed is too tired to care. He clutches his shoes to his chest (he took them off because his feet hurt) and follows him.

They enter the dorm building and take the stairs up to the fourth floor. In front of one of the rooms, the teacher stops and looks at Greed.   
"Here. You can stay however long you want, just don't wake any other students."   
"You got it. Aizawa?"   
The man has been in the process of turning around, but now he stops.   
"Yes."   
"Thank you for calling me."  
A little smile flashes over his face, then he walks away.   
"You're welcome."

Greed sighs and then knocks on the door quietly.   
"Katsuki? It's me, let me in please. I know you're awake."  
There's no response. Greed knocks again.   
"I won't talk if you don't want me to, but I'll listen. I'll sit with you. Whatever you need me to do." 

Finally, he hears footsteps and then the sound of the door being unlocked.  
There's footsteps again, so Greed opens the door himself and steps inside. The lamp on the bedside table is on, illuminating Katsuki sitting on the bed, staring at his knees.

Worry very prominent in his head, Greed locks the door again and then walks over to the bed.   
"Can I sit?"   
A nod.   
Greed throws his boots to the floor and takes off his dirty socks, then he climbs into bed next to Katsuki.   
The kid tenses, then he leans heavily into Greed's side, and he puts an arm around him.   
"Aizawa told me what happened," he says quietly and strokes Katsuki's shoulder. "I know how you're feeling." 

"No, you don't, nobody does," Katsuki snaps. Greed could explain that he isn’t lying, he really does. He knows what guilt feels like very well. But that's not what the kid needs right now.

"Then explain it to me. I'm here and I'm listening and I'm not going to judge you." 

Greed is glad he has at least some experience with this whole parenting thing by now otherwise he'd probably just make it worse. But he learned that usually simply listening and showing the kids you support them does the trick. Also, hugs or holding them when they need it.   
So that's what Greed is doing now. 

Katsuki doesn't talk for a while, and Greed is almost sure he fell asleep, but then he speaks up quietly.  
"I feel like a failure. I'm so weak. First I get myself kidnapped and cause All Might to lose his powers, then I fail the licence exam. I shouldn't be a hero anymore. I'm weak. I'm a loser."   
With a sigh, Greed pulls him into a proper hug as much as possible while they're sitting next to each other on the bed. 

"I should've fought back harder. I shouldn't have been scared. I should've stayed and helped him fight that villain. Or I should've just been nicer so they didn't chain me up at the sports festival for the villains to see and pick me."  
Katsuki's voice is full of so much pain, and Greed holds him close, one hand between his shoulder blades, one at the back of his head.

"None of it was your fault," he says firmly. "None of it. You're just a child. You shouldn't have to consider all your actions. You're allowed to feel strongly and live your emotions a little recklessly. You'll learn soon enough how to tone it down a little when you grow up more, but as of now it's okay to be a little bit of a brat."  
"No!"

Greed startles at Katsuki's tone. It's a mix of angry, heartbroken and guilty.   
"I'm not a brat. I'm a bully. An asshole. You don't know what I did to Deku before UA."  
"Deku?"   
"Midoriya."   
"Oh, the green haired one." He frowns and breaks the hug so he can look at Katsuki. "What did you do?"   
"I hurt him, a lot," Katsuki mumbles, avoiding his eyes. "I bullied him and told him to jump off the roof. I'm a bad person. So it makes sense I'd be the one to end All Might."

Unsure what to say, Greed shifts so he's lying in bed properly. Katsuki joins him but keeps his distance. 

"I'm really bad at talking about feelings and shit, but I'll try. Listen, kid. I don't know much about your childhood, but I do know that your parents were shit, especially your mum. Now that doesn't excuse what you did, of fucking course not. That was shitty to do and you never say that to anybody, and if you ever do again you're grounded for at least a month."  
He rubs his eyes.   
"But even if it doesn't excuse it, it explains it. You grew up surrounded by violence, so it makes sense you'd also be using violence to solve things. Midoriya is fine, he's here and he's training to become a great hero. So you didn't do any lasting damage, hopefully. But you need to talk to him."  
"I don't want to talk to Deku."  
"Katsuki," Greed says firmly. "Tonight you tried to solve your feelings with violence again, letting it out on the other kid, but you need to learn different ways. Think of it this way: Do you want to be like your mother?"   
"Fuck no."  
"Then talk to Midoriya. Use your words. Apologise. You don't have to do it all in one conversation. Start by apologising for tonight. Get used to talking about things. I'll practice with you if you want." 

They lie in silence for a while, then Katsuki rolls over and buries his face in the fur of his vest. Greed wraps an arm around him. 

"Fine."   
It's barely audible, but Greed understands him anyway. 

"And about All Might," Greed continues. "It wasn't your fault. Everyone else will tell you the same. Talk to Ling and Denki if you don't believe me. Okay?"   
"Fine…" 

Once again, it's quiet. Greed yawns and his eyelids droop.  
"I should go home and get some sleep."   
One of Katsuki's hands grabs his arm. He understands.   
"Or not. This bed is comfortable too." 

The kid relaxes again and Greed does too. Aizawa did say he could stay for as long as he wants. So he's going to do that.

\----

The next morning, Greed wakes up with Katsuki curled up next to him. He sighs and runs his hand over the kid’s hair until he stirs.  
“Morning,” he mumbles and Katsuki cracks an eye open to look at him.  
“Morning, old man. You have awful bed hair.”  
Greed chuckles and pinches the boy’s cheek.  
“I’ll fix it later.”  
Katsuki slaps his hand away.

That reminds Greed of the reason he stayed here.  
“How did you sleep?”  
“Okay.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes…” Then, “I woke up a few times, but you were here, so…”  
Somehow that statement is like a punch in the throat in a good way. Greed swallows and rubs his eyes, pretending he’s just sleepy and that he’s definitely not tearing up. The trust between them by now is a little overwhelming, he’s not sure how to react, so when he drops his hands, he smiles at the kid. An honest, soft smile. And Katsuki smiles back. It’s a bit wobbly, but it’s there.  
“Don’t ever let anyone find out we’re not actually both just snarky assholes,” Greed says and his smile turns into a grin. Katsuki scoffs and nods.  
“It would hurt our image.”

He pulls the kid into a short hug and then climbs out of bed.  
“I’ll stay now that I’m already here. No need to go home only to have to come back in-” A glance at his phone. “One and a half hours. I’ll bully Aizawa into borrowing me a clean shirt.”  
Katsuki looks at the floor and raises an eyebrow.  
“You’ll do your janitor work in _those_?”  
Greed follows his gaze and grins. He almost forgot the ankle boots he wears at the bar. They’re black and have a platform and heel. They make him around 17cm (6.7in) taller, and give him really good posture, but working in them won’t be fun for his feet.  
But he’d finally be taller than Aizawa. They’re usually about the same height; with these shoes however… His grin widens. Last night he wasn’t wearing them because he’d been walking too fast and his feet hurt, but they recovered, so…   
“Yes, I’ll work in these for sure.”

Katsuki scoffs and gets up.  
“I’ll make you breakfast. I cook for the parasites anyways.”  
“Parasites?”  
“The stupid extras who have declared themselves my friends despite me never actually being nice to them.”  
Greed hides a smile by leaning down to put on his shoes.  
“I’m glad you have friends. Let me guess, Denki is one of the parasites?”  
“Obviously. And Ling too. He comes here every morning from his dorm just to eat here, he’s an idiot.”  
With an amused chuckle, Greed zips up his shoes.  
“You love them, admit it.”  
When he looks back at Katsuki, he’s bright red. Greed narrows his eyes curiously.  
“Hold up. You do. But not in the way I meant it.” He steps closer, feeling like a shark that smelled blood.  
Katsuki rubs his neck.  
“I don’t. Fuck you, Greed.”  
“Oh let me think about this. It could be Ling, you’re quite close considering you supposedly hate everyone. But you’re too brotherly with him. Denki though… you’re never brotherly with Denki.”  
With a bright grin, he pokes Katsuki’s chest.  
“Katsuki Explosion Murder, you have a crush on our lightning boy.”  
“Shut up!” he hisses and looks like he might explode any second. Literally.  
So, Greed backs up.

“Hey, I’m not judging you. I fully support that. You’d be cute together.”  
“Just stop talking.”  
“Fine, brat. I’m just saying. Go for it.”  
“You won’t even go for it with Aizawa, so shut the fuck up, hypocrite.”  
A sigh pushes out of Greed’s mouth.  
“If you knew, kid…”  
Katsuki pauses on his way to his closet and looks at him, frowning.  
“Are you okay?”

Greed buries his face in his hands, hesitates for a moment, then shakes his head.  
“No. Actually, not really.”  
He flops back down on the bed.  
“I had a panic attack on our second date. We haven't talked about it since then.”  
He’s not sure why he’s opening up right now…  
The mattress dips next to him and a hand lands on his arm before being pulled back again. He appreciates it even though he didn’t mind it too much.  
“Wow, that sucks.”  
“Yeah… I don’t want to pile this all on you though, kid. You have enough on your plate without worrying about me too.”  
He combs through his hair with his fingers to fix it and then grins at Katsuki half-heartedly.  
“I’ll be fine. Worry about yourself, okay?”  
Katsuki glares, and Greed is taken aback. Did he say something wrong?  
“Shut the fuck up. You’re always there for us, but you never let us help.”  
“Because you’re just kids.”  
“We’re teens. I’m sixteen. Stop babying me and tell me about your fucking issues!”  
Greed blinks surprised and then laughs quietly.  
“You’re right, brat. I shouldn’t treat you like you’re ten.”  
“So, you were saying, dumbass?”  
“Tone it down on the insults,” Greed jokes and then breathes deeply for a few seconds. “We were watching movies and he picked Peter Pan. It reminded me of Envy and all the guilt I’m feeling… He let me stay over that night and sat with me until I was asleep.”  
“So he cares about you. Gross. Why aren’t you dating yet then?”  
“I left without a word the next morning to avoid awkwardness.”

Katsuki stares at him and then hits his arm a few times.  
“Hey, stop!” Greed huffs and holds up his hands to catch Katsuki’s. “What’s that for?”  
“You’re even worse with feelings bullshit than I am! He let you stay and sat with you! He cares about you and when you just left you made it look like you don’t want him to care! What the fuck, why am I better at understanding this than you are? You’re a fucking idiot.”  
Greed can feel himself getting defensive.  
“I’m sorry I never learned how to interpret or deal with any positive emotions because I barely had or came in contact with any while growing up,” he snaps. His chest squeezes tightly. He’s awful at feelings, Katsuki’s right. Maybe he should just give up on trying to do something he’s this shitty at. Aizawa deserves someone who knows how to fucking express themself.  
He’s just too much of a mess…

Greed gets up and rubs his eyes.  
“I need to get to work. Thanks for the chat, kid.”  
“No, wait,” Katsuki says quickly and jumps up. “Fuck, I’m sorry. You’re right. I don’t know anything about your childhood or how you grew up…”  
“It’s fine, I’m not mad at you.”  
“You should be. I shouldn’t have said that.”  
“No, kid. You’re right. I’m…”  
He shakes his head and stares at the wall.  
“Greed?”  
He’s the adult. He has to behave like one. _Get a grip on yourself._  
“I’m really sorry.” Katsuki sounds more helpless than ever. He shouldn’t be feeling that way. Greed needs to fucking stop being like this.

A warm hand takes his and snaps him out of his thoughts. He looks at Katsuki.  
“You’re learning. And you’re getting really fucking good at being a dad. So you can get good at dating too.”  
Greed finally manages to swallow the lump in his throat and huffs.  
“Maybe. Maybe not.”  
“Shut up. You will. Now go get a less smelly shirt from Aizawa and then we eat breakfast. And if I have to talk to shitty Deku, you’ll talk to Aizawa.”  
“Excuse me-”  
“No. If you don’t do it, I don’t. So you better get a grip on yourself and learn how to deal with emotions.”

Greed blinks. Katsuki is really getting back at him with his own words. He sighs deeply and squeezes the kid’s hand.  
“Fine. But not today. Too many emotions for one day already.”  
“Yeah, I won’t talk to Deku today either.”  
“Fair enough. Alright, let’s do it tomorrow or whatever. As long as you-”  
Katsuki frowns at him.  
“Right, as long as _we_ actually do it.”  
The kid nods and looks away.  
“Now go, old man. Maybe you should ask Aizawa to take a shower at his place too, you smell like cigarettes.”  
“It’s the bar, I don’t touch those things.”  
“Whatever, you stink. Get out of my room.”

Greed chuckles and pulls his hand out of Katsuki’s, ruffles the kid’s hair and then leaves the room.

\----

Plastering a grin on his face, Greed knocks on Aizawa’s door (the one that’s inside the dorms, not the backdoor.)  
He listens to the footsteps and a meow and then the door opens and Aizawa with serious bed hair and a grumpy expression opens, holding an orange tabby cat.

Greed grins. “Ariel I assume, nice to meet you. I need to use your shower, pretty boy. I slept in Katsuki’s room.”  
Aizawa is blinking up at him, and fuck does Greed enjoy the extra height on him.  
“What’s wrong?” he asks innocently and takes a step forward. Aizawa has to crane his neck to look at his face now. Fuck, he’s never taking these shoes off again.  
“What are you wearing?”  
“My shoes I wear at the bar. I don’t have any other ones and don’t want to go home because it’s too late anyways.”  
The other man is still just silently looking at him. Greed clears his throat.  
“Can I take a quick shower and borrow one of your shirts?”

That seems to snap Aizawa out of whatever trance he was in.  
“Fine, but hurry up. I need to feed the cat before she chews my arm off.”  
Greed follows Aizawa inside and waits until the man has retrieved a shirt from the bedroom and shoves him into the bathroom.  
Rolling his eyes, he steps inside and locks the door after him, not that he’s worried Aizawa will walk in on him, but mostly just to show him he’ll stay in the bathroom and come out dressed like a decent human being.

After a quick shower, he puts on his jeans and shoes and then the shirt that’s a little tight because he’s buffer than Aizawa, but fits well enough.  
He checks the mirror and fixes his hair, then leaves the bathroom.  
“I don’t think you’ll invite me to eat breakfast with you, but just in case you did want to, Katsuki is making me something to eat, so I have to decline.”  
“I don’t eat breakfast.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“I don’t eat breakfast.”  
“So you wait for lunch?”  
“I don’t eat lunch. I eat jelly packets throughout the day.”  
“You what?”  
“You heard me, stop asking me to repeat myself.”  
“Are you fucking serious?”  
“Yes?”

Aizawa seems fully unbothered, leaning against the counter and watching the cats eat their breakfast.

“Okay, you’re coming with me.”  
“Wha- Greed!”  
But Greed has already grabbed his arm in an iron grip and is pulling him along.  
“You need to eat proper fucking food.”  
“I don’t-”  
“Shut up,” Greed snaps, his heels clacking threateningly until they reach the door and stop briefly. “You need to be a role model, so you have to work on your unhealthy eating habits.”  
“I eat dinner.”  
“That’s not enough! You need breakfast and lunch too. No arguing anymore.”  
Aizawa struggles against his grip but then groans.  
“Fine. This once.”  
Greed grins.  
“Not only this once. Don’t test me, pretty boy.”

\----

They reach the living area of the dorm building and the students turn to look at them surprised. The pink girl gasps and approaches them.  
“Your shoes are amazing!” she exclaims in awe. Greed shows his teeth as he smirks.  
“Thanks, kid. I love your hair.”  
She tugs on a strand with a smile.  
“Thank you.”

They move on to the kitchen and Greed sees Katsuki cooking while Denki and a dark haired boy with weird elbows hover around him. Kirishima is watching them with some distance, amused expression on his face.  
Greed releases Aizawa and walks over to the redhead.  
“Making sure he doesn’t kill them?”  
The kid looks up at him and nods.  
“Yeah. But Denki and Sero do this every morning. Katsuki just pretends to hate it by now.”  
Remembering that Katsuki has a crush on Denki, Greed smirks and watches them too.

It seems like the two are trying to help. Sero reaches out to the pan and Katsuki slaps his hand away. Denki leans over the other blond’s shoulder and after a moment is shoved away too. Denki gravitates to Sero for a bit and they talk quietly and laugh. Then Sero says something to Katsuki and laughs while Katsuki tries to hit him, slight blush on his cheeks.  
Now that’s curious. Greed narrows his eyes and wants to watch more closely, but Aizawa clears his throat and the three at the stove turn around.  
“Oh, hey Greed,” Denki says with a big smile. “Awesome shoes. Are those the ones you stole from your sister?”  
“The exact ones. If you ever want to borrow them, just ask.”  
Denki bites his lip and nods, then turns to Sero who smiles at him gently and rubs his arm. Katsuki also looks at Denki for a moment before turning to Aizawa.  
“You here for breakfast too or what?”  
“I dragged him here. He never eats breakfast. Or lunch.” Greed crosses his arms.  
Katsuki frowns.  
“You’re eating with us,” he decides with a voice that leaves no space for argument. Greed smiles pleased. He knew he could count on Katsuki’s mum friend/big brother senses. It’s not immediately obvious, but he definitely has them.

A few minutes later the table is set and they sit down to eat. Other students come in every now and then to grab their own breakfast, some sit in the kitchen, others leave to eat in the living room. Ling joins them eventually and after a scolding from Katsuki for being late, he eats too.  
Greed keeps looking over to Aizawa who’s openly ignoring him. He doesn’t really care though if the man is mad at him. He needs proper meals and Greed will make sure he gets them even if he has to stalk him to make sure he eats.

When they’re done and Greed gets up, Ling looks at his shoes.  
“Not those again, I feel so tiny when you wear them.”  
Greed chuckles.  
“I don’t care, kid. See you all throughout the day. I got to get to work.”  
Aizawa raises an eyebrow.  
“In those shoes?”  
“Damn right in these shoes. Just watch me.”

He stalks off, the clacking of his heels on the floor really satisfying to his ears.

\----

Doing paperwork is fine because he’s sitting. But then he has to clean a classroom in which a student lost control over their quirk and shot mud everywhere.  
He can do it, obviously, but his feet are starting to protest walking back and forth while mopping, carrying buckets of mud to empty them outside.  
Greed sees Aizawa in the hallway and grins at him, shaking his ass while walking, ignoring his aching feet. At least sore spots are healing immediately.

After cleaning the muddy classroom, fixing a sink in one of the bathrooms and tidying up the gym after a training lesson of an upper class, Greed is ready to cut his feet off, honestly. Every step hurts and he rubs his face. Is he admitting defeat?  
He makes his way to his office so nobody will see him take off his shoes and call him out on it, but Aizawa stops him outside the door to the room where he could finally end his suffering.  
There’s mischief in the man’s eyes and Greed doesn’t like it.  
“What?”  
“I was just wondering if you could help me with something in the library.”  
The library is on the other side of the building.  
Greed glares at him.  
“What is it?”  
“Just janitor work.”  
“Oh, are you sure you don’t just want to see if I can still walk? Because I can!”  
“Then you won’t mind coming with me, right?”

Too proud to admit his own failure in front of the object of his affection, he nods and starts walking down the hallway, Aizawa following him. Greed winces as he steps too hard and pain shoots through his left foot. He can feel Aizawa watching him though, so he keeps on his usual smirk and continues walking.  
They’re halfway to the library, when Aizawa stops.  
“Oh wait, actually, I need you in the gym.”  
Greed grits his teeth.  
“I’m going to murder you.”  
“Just admit that you can’t work in your shoes and I’ll stop.”  
“Fuck you, I _can_ work in them.”  
He spins around and stalks towards the gym, Aizawa jogging to keep up with him.  
“Greed, you’re clearly in pain.” The teacher sounds incredibly amused and Greed hates it.  
They make it back to Greed’s office and Greed wants to keep walking to the gym, but Aizawa stops again.  
“Just take them off.”  
“No, my feet are fine!”  
“Take them off!”  
“No! I’m wearing them until the end of the day!”  
“Why are you so fucking stubborn?”  
“Leave me alone.”  
“Take the stupid shoes off.”  
“No!”

They have a stare off and then finally, Greed closes his eyes and releases a string of very creative and colourful curses.  
After that, he leans down and unzips his shoes, stepping out of them. His naked feet on the cool floor feel like heaven and he looks up to see Aizawa holding back laughter. He wants to hate him for it, but it looks too fucking cute.  
Aizawa is killing him.

“Not a fucking word, asshole.”  
“Fine. Get back to work.”

Greed glares at him and walks into his office, putting his shoes under his desk. Then he inspects his feet. There’s some slow healing sores and he sighs. He needs to eat something and take a short break.  
Fucking bullshit. He could’ve definitely worn them the whole day if Aizawa hadn’t pulled that bullshit. Whatever. It doesn’t matter what he’s wearing, this is just janitor and secretary work anyways…  
He already misses the fucking bar job. He won’t get tipped here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't pick up on it: Greed is doing fine financially, but because of his personality he was obsessing over making more and more money, he didn't actually need his second job
> 
> Here's Greed's shoes: https://www.sheloox.de/media/image/product/30430/md/ankle-boots-adore-1020fh-lack-stiefeletten-von-pleaser.jpg  
> Y'all can thank both Bitters & Lee for giving me the idea, and you can't tell me Greed wouldn't steal those from Lust as a teen, take them with him when running away, and then wear them to work at the bar


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aizawa goes on patrol - Greed is bored and follows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !! TW: blood & major injury (both described in detail), panic (no full panic attack), cursing --> Thorough TW with spoilers for the chapter in the end notes, please be careful, this is one of the chapters for which I raised the rating to M because of violence
> 
> Uploading this on Monday because I'm impatient and really wanna see what you think of this! Enjoy (and please consider the trigger warnings!!)!

The next four days during Katsuki’s house arrest, Greed visits him in the dorms during his breaks and talks to him or just sits with him for a bit. The kid is still struggling to find the words to apologise to Midoriya properly and Greed is trying his best to help him while also trying to figure out how to talk to Aizawa about emotions and trauma and all that bullshit.

They’re both kind of helpless, but at least they’re helpless together. Greed also talks to Monoma a few more times during that time and lets him sit in his office when he needs a break from the outside world. 

All in all it’s slowly starting to look a little better even though it’s not perfect. Until the day he follows Aizawa on patrol because he’s bored and figures that if it’s a quiet patrol he can maybe talk to him on neutral ground, somewhere that’s not UA or Greed’s place.  
And he’s curious how long it will take the man to notice that he’s being followed.

Pretty quickly as it turns out. Aizawa swings onto a rooftop and Greed climbs up the wall with his claws out. At the top, the man is looking in his direction as he reaches the roof, and Greed smirks.  
“Whoops, you caught me.”  
“What do you want?”  
“Can we talk?”  
Before Aizawa can answer, an alarm sounds and there’s screams. He grabs his capture weapon and without giving Greed time to stop him, Aizawa swings away.  
He curses and runs to the side of the roof to see in what direction he’s going, then he jumps to a balcony of the neighbouring building and slowly makes his way down to the street.  
It takes him a minute to follow the distant fighting noises and find a warehouse in front of which Aizawa is up against two people. Judging by the bags strewn around, they robbed some place when the hero caught up to them. Greed takes a moment to take in the situation. He can’t figure out the quirk of the shorter criminal as Aizawa seems to be cancelling it right now, but the other one looks really strong and is approaching too fast to warn Aizawa in time.

So, despite not having a hero license and technically not being allowed to fight, Greed jumps from the shadows and throws himself in front of Aizawa, shield spreading over his skin. The metal pole that had been aimed at the hero breaks when it hits his chest, and he grins at the perplexed expression of the villain.  
“Surprise, there’s two of us.” He cackles and swings his fist at the man.  
“You don’t have a license!” Aizawa calls from where he’s fighting the second robber.  
“I know. Fuck that, you need help.”  
“You’re insufferable!”

Greed smirks and throws the villain over his shoulder with some effort, making kissing sounds.

“You love it!”

They fight silently for a bit, the only sounds that can be heard are pained grunts and fists hitting bodies. The villain that Greed is fighting definitely has a strength quirk, the other breathes out mist with unknown effects. Greed hopes they won’t find out.

Aizawa tries to cancel out the second one’s quirk while Greed beats the shit out of the first, trying to do damage, but the muscles of this dude are huge.  
There’s a crunching sound and he turns his head, seeing Aizawa’s face being smashed into the ground.

A growl leaves his lips and he lunges at the mist villain, forgetting that his quirk works again. Greed breathes in a mouthful of it and stumbles, barely staying on his feet. So it seems to make you dizzy or some shit. Maybe it’s supposed to knock you out and the only thing keeping him on his feet is his healing rapidly working against the mist. But Greed is angry, and his rage keeps him going, and he knocks the villain out with a clean punch.

He tries to focus on the other one then, so he doesn’t get too close to Aizawa, and manages to get a few good punches and scratches in, ducking out of the way of counter attacks, but the mist is slowing down his reactions because he can’t keep healing while also having his shield up (and he definitely needs his shield against that second robber), and the guy manages to grab him by the arm like he weighs nothing.  
Greed has a moment to think “Fuck.”, then he’s thrown into the empty warehouse they’ve been fighting next to. The combination of the feeling of flying through the air and the stupid mist clouding his head makes him drop his shield and he wonders absently how many bones he will break and how long it will take to heal. Then he lands and pain explodes in his stomach.

Now, Greed wouldn’t say he’s easily distraught when seeing blood and injuries, he can handle a lot. But when he looks down at himself and sees a long metal pole with a diameter of roughly 5cm (2in) sticking out of his stomach, he almost vomits.

At least the muscle guy is approaching him and leaving Aizawa alone. Greed’s head is swimming, probably not only because of the mist now, and he slowly realises that his body is starting to heal around the pole. His hands frantically grab at it and he tries to rip it out, only to realise that it’s cemented into the floor or some shit. Fuck. Fuck!  
Bile rises in his throat and he chokes out Aizawa’s name.

“Cancel my quirk!”

Aizawa, who’s back on his feet with a bloody nose, is running into the warehouse now too, and ignores him in favour of fighting the second villain. Greed doesn’t watch, he stares at the skin closing around the pole. If it fully heals, it’ll be part of his body. Some really fucking long metal pole. Of course, he could try to cut it shorter, but his body might consider that an injury and heal it back to its original length.  
What if the cement and floor counts too? What if the whole building will be part of his body and he can never leave here again? He knows he’s spiralling into panic, but he can’t help it.  
His breath is coming out in gasps.

“Aizawa!” he yells desperately, moving his body back and forth to keep the wound open, hissing at the pain. It can’t fully close. He can’t let that happen.

Finally, the healing stops and he looks up at the other, seeing the muscle villain lying unconscious and tied up in the corner.

“What’s happening?”  
Aizawa rushes to him.  
“Remember my belly button piercing?”  
Greed moves the pole a bit again, with his hands this time, watching the skin rip.  
“Fuck. So we can’t let it heal. But you’re bleeding out.”  
“Don’t you dare stop using your quirk, I can’t live with a pole in my stomach and possibly the whole building connected to it being part of me!” His voice is hysterical, but he really doesn’t give a single fuck right now. This is the worst situation he’s ever been in.  
“You’re bleeding out!”

Their eyes meet, and Greed is shocked at the panic in Aizawa’s gaze. It snaps Greed out of his hysteria and he forces himself to think.  
“Okay, don’t worry, I just need to get the pole out and then I can heal properly.”  
He looks it up and down, brain swimming even more than it already is, when he once again realises that it’s too thick to break and too high to lift himself up or have Aizawa lift him. He can’t use his claws because the second Aizawa stops using his quirk on him his body will start to heal because it’s a deadly wound, and he can’t use his shield while he’s healing. Fuck.  
He’s stuck. Stuck to either bleed out or heal around the fucking thing.

His bloody hands flail as panic pushes up his throat again, and one finds Aizawa’s hand, clinging to it.  
“What do we do?” Desperately trying to stay calm, Greed looks at him.  
“I called for backup after the second one threw you, but I don’t know when they’ll arrive.”  
Greed’s mind is working rapidly, trying to come up with a plan.  
“We need something to cut it. Is there something to cut it with?”  
He looks around since Aizawa can’t look away from him. There’s nothing. It’s an empty fucking warehouse with some metal poles sticking out where walls crumbled, and lots of dirt and debris.  
It seems completely hopeless.

“Fuck!” he yells, voice shaking, just like his hand that’s still gripping Aizawa’s as tightly as he can.  
“Greed, I…”  
Red meets red as their eyes lock. Aizawa’s eyes are tearing up from being kept open for so long in this dusty place.  
“I don’t know how much longer I can go without blinking, I used my quirk a lot against the villains.”  
Greed nods, taking a deep breath.  
“Take a break, I’ll keep moving so it can’t heal.”  
“That has to hurt like hell, and you’ll lose blood quicker.”  
“Just do it, you can use those eyedrops you have and continue in a minute or whatever.”

Aizawa stares at him for another moment before nodding.  
“Ready?”  
“Yeah, just do it.”  
He feels it the second his healing starts again, and he grits his teeth and jerks his body back and forth, ripping the skin again and again. His free hand presses against the hole in his stomach next to the pole. He tries to ignore that there’s an exit wound too and tells himself it’ll be fine. He’ll just hold the blood in a little. It’ll be fine.  
Aizawa pulls his hand from Greed’s grip and gets up, probably to look around for something to help them. Greed uses his second hand to press to the wound too. The warm blood is making everything slippery, and the intense metallic smell is leaving him nauseated.  
Not finding anything to help either, Aizawa curses.  
“Okay, fucking hell. We need someone, quick.”  
It’s silent for a bit and Greed focuses on reopening his wound, feeling lightheaded. There’s so much blood…  
Then, a hand grabs his shoulder and the healing stops. Greed slumps to the floor in relief. Purposefully reopening the skin again and again is screwing with his brain that’s already foggy from the blood loss and the remains of the mist quirk.

“I called someone. Just… hold on.”  
Greed weakly reaches for him again, and Aizawa links their hands.  
“Don’t you fucking die on me.”  
“Oh, do you care?” he mocks, grinning weakly.  
“If you didn’t realise that by now maybe you’re too stupid to be my type after all.”  
Laughter bubbles up in Greed’s throat and turns into violent coughing halfway through, droplets of blood flying from his mouth. Gladly, it doesn’t last too long because it jostles the pole and hurts like a bitch.  
Aizawa gets closer to him and moves them so Greed’s head is resting on his thigh and he can look at him from above.

“You did always look down on me, huh?” he jokes, wiping blood from his lips.  
“Do you ever shut up?”  
“Guess Ling and Denki rubbed off on me.”  
Greed’s eyelids slip closed and Aizawa moves his head with his leg.  
“Wake up! Greed, don’t you dare close your eyes!”  
“Bossy. I would’ve let you boss me around all day.”  
“I still will, don’t think you can get away so easily.”

Despite trying so hard to hold on, Greed can feel himself slipping. It sucks, really. He wanted to finally talk to him. Open up. Ask him out on a proper date… There’s so much he wants to do before he has to go. Make sure Katsuki is okay. Ask Denki what’s been bothering him. Make sure Ling knows how loved he is. Tell Ed how good he is for Ling. Ask Monoma if he needs a new family. Kiss Aizawa and tell him he thinks he may be in love for the first time in his life.  
“Aizawa,” he whispers. Then,  
“Shouta…”  
The hand around his tightens, trembling. He should try to say as much as he can before it’s too late.  
“Did I ever tell you that my original plan was to be a villain and rule the world? Whatever father did to us, to me, I was always so greedy, couldn’t get enough, I wanted everything. But… I think there’s nothing left that I desire. That empty feeling is gone. I have all I need with the kids and you.”  
Aizawa huffs and it sounds wet.  
“You get sappy when you lose a lot of blood.”  
“Well, if there’s a time to be romantic, it’s on your deathbed.”  
Greed reaches out with a trembling hand and cups Aizawa’s cheek, smearing blood on it. There are tears running down the man’s face again from his eyes slowly drying out. He still has a bloody nose and dirt on his forehead and chin. His hair is an absolute mess. Yet he’s the most beautiful being Greed has ever seen.  
He gently guides the man’s face down to his. If he’s going to die, he wants to at least kiss him one time. Just once.

Before Aizawa can react, or Greed can pull him down enough, there’s a shout.

“Greed!”

Greed’s eyes widen and he drops his hand, staring at Aizawa.  
“You called Ling? He can’t see me like that! Tell him to leave! I can’t have him see me die!”  
“Then don’t die,” Aizawa snaps.  
There’s multiple footsteps, and then Ling is falling down next to him, eyes wide, and red and puffy.  
“Ed, hurry,” he says and Greed’s tired brain registers the other people that came with Ling.  
There’s Ed, Denki, Katsuki, Sero and Kirishima. They were probably all out together when they got Aizawa’s call.  
His brain feels sluggish and he doesn’t understand what is happening when Katsuki, Sero and Kirishima lift him up a bit off the floor, Ed lies down on his stomach, claps his hands together, and reaches under him.

There’s a metallic sound and then there’s a strong tugging at his stomach and the pole is ripped out of him, finally. It lands on the ground with a loud metallic sound.  
He feels his healing return immediately and gasps as his body works to keep him alive.  
But he feels so tired… His eyes want to close again and he fights to keep them open.

“Hey, old man, keep your fucking eyes open,” Katsuki snaps right next to his ear and he groans.  
“Can’t even die in peace, brat.”  
“I’ll let you die in peace when you deserve it!”  
“What do you mean I don’t deserve it?”  
“You didn’t do shit with your life yet! You didn’t even talk to Aizawa.”  
“Was about to before this whole mess… What ‘bout you ‘n Midoriya?”  
“I apologised for the fight. Nothing else yet.”  
A little smile tugs at Greed’s lips.  
“‘m so proud of you.”

Then, Greed turns to Ling who is still awfully pale and clearly holding back tears.

“Hey, kid, ’m okay. I’m healing. Feel better already, just give it another minute or so. Good thing I ate lots for dinner.”  
“You could have died. If we’d arrived just a minute later…”  
“But you didn’t.”  
He reaches out and ruffles his hair, smearing blood in it. Well, fuck, but whatever. He rubs his forehead, head a little clearer by now.  
“You saved me, kid. Hm, technically your boyfriend did, but if you hadn’t asked him out, he wouldn’t have been here to save me, so technically you saved me.”

Ling laughs at him, still a little shaken, and Greed carefully pushes himself into a sitting position, wincing at the pain in his stomach. He looks down and sees that it is fully closed already. So it’s just healing internally now, that’s good, it means he’s not losing any more blood.  
“Come on, give me a hug, brat.”  
With Ling wrapped up in his arms, he locks eyes with Denki who is pale too and for once not saying anything, so he moves his head.  
“Come here.”  
Denki doesn’t hesitate and joins the hug.

“Katsuki.” Greed grins and tries to look at him.  
“Yeah, no way, I’m not hugging you idiots.”  
“Come on, brat.”  
He looks eyes with the blond and sees that he’s just as shaken as the other two. Katsuki groans and kneels down, then puts his arms around Denki and Greed for lack of free hugging space and his arms not reaching around to Ling.

The hug lasts longer than Greed is comfortable, but he accepts it because he scared the kids. When they finally break apart, he fistbumps Ed’s metal arm.  
“Thanks, kid. You saved my life.”  
Ed looks a little flustered then, and rubs his neck.  
“Yeah, no problem. Couldn’t let you die, Ling would’ve cried for weeks.”  
Greed looks at Kirishima and Sero.  
“Thanks for helping.”

Aizawa gets up from the floor and interrupts them then.  
“Okay, you should leave. Backup will be here any minute now and arrest the villains, and they shouldn’t find a bunch of kids and someone who fought villains without a license.”  
“But we have a license,” Ling says.  
“And I saved your life, don’t forget that.”  
“We’ll talk about that later. Get moving.”

Greed grumbles about Aizawa being bossy and lets Kirishima and Ling help him up.  
Healing such bad wounds is draining him of his energy, and he leans heavily onto the two.

“Go get sleep and don’t bother coming to work tomorrow. I’ll come over,” Aizawa decides and Greed nods tiredly and then lets the kids lead the way, closing his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thorough TW:  
> \- broken nose  
> \- stab wound with a metal pole  
> \- bleeding out  
> \- purposeful re-opening of the wound  
> \- near death experience  
> \- panic & hysteria because of wound
> 
> So... this was a chapter, huh? I had this scene planned and written very early on, basically immediately after I started shipping Greedzawa because what's better than a near death experience to make you realise how much someone means to you?  
> I hope you all liked this! Next chapter will be lots of fluff to make up for the angst, promise!  
> See you Friday!


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the patrol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood, mention of former major injury and near death experience, cursing
> 
> Enjoy some fluff for the soul because we all deserve it after the last chapter (one day early because the last one was too and because I felt like it, next week we'll be back with the regular schedule of Tuesday and Friday!)

They’re all exhausted when they reach the apartment. They got more than a few concerned looks on the way here because Greed is covered in blood, just like Kirishima and Ling who dragged him along the whole way.  
Katsuki takes the spare key from the little hole in the wall next to the bottom of the door and unlocks it.  
Greed is half pulled half carried into the bathroom and then he’s set down in the shower.  
“I’ll make him something to eat. You help me, Shitty Hair.”  
“I’ll grab new clothes,” Ed says and leaves the bathroom after them. Sero follows him.  
Hardly able to keep his eyes open because he’s so tired, Greed looks at the two remaining boys.  
“It’s okay, I’ll just rinse off myself.”  
“You can barely stay awake. It’s fine,” Ling says firmly, then kicks his shoes off and steps into the shower next to Greed.  
He’s mostly out of it, but Ling helps him out of his clothes and washes the blood off of his face and chest, and out of his hair.  
Denki has a towel ready when they’re done and then he and Ling are helping him put on the fresh clothes Ed brought.  
It’s humiliating. Greed should be able to do this himself.

When he’s dressed again, Denki and Ling help him to the couch and a bowl is shoved into his hands.  
“Eat, old man, and don’t choke on it. And you put on dry clothes, Smiley. And wash the blood out of your hair.”  
Oh. Yeah. Ling was standing in the shower with him fully clothed. Greed hates everything about this, but he starts shovelling food into his mouth anyways.  
The sooner he regains some energy, the sooner this embarrassing situation is over.  
When he’s done eating, he feels a little better, but he’s still tired. His eyes close on their own and he leans his head back against the couch.

“Should we take him to his room?” That’s Sero’s voice.  
“No, let’s just leave him here. But we should go to sleep too.” Ling.  
“Here? We need to get back to the dorms, it’s late.” Sero again.  
“I’ll text Aizawa where we are and that we want to stay with Greed tonight. He’ll understand.” Denki.  
“You have his phone number?” Katsuki.  
“No, but I know Greed’s lockscreen password.”  
There’s footsteps to the bathroom and then they return, and Greed listens to the sound of fingers tapping on a phone screen.  
“Okay, so where do we sleep?” Kirishima.  
“Ed is obviously sleeping in my bed.” Ling.  
“Sero, want to share with me?” Denki.  
“Sure.”  
“I guess I could sleep on the couch if we move Greed?” Kirishima.  
“Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair.”  
There’s quick footsteps and Greed forces one eye open. He sees Katsuki dragging Kirishima to his room and smiles weakly. He is really glad he has friends.

A hand lands in his wet hair that’s hanging in his face.  
“Sleep. You really scared us,” Ling says quietly. There’s multiple footsteps leaving again, but Ling stays. “I don’t know what I’d do without you… You’re the first person who really cared about me and made me feel loved… I love you. I’m so lucky you’re my dad.”  
Greed smiles and yawns, lifting his arm tiredly towards Ling and taking his hand.  
“Love you too, kid. Sorry for scaring you.”  
He drifts off then, exhaustion winning, still holding the kid’s hand.

\----

The next morning Greed wakes up on the couch under Katsuki’s favourite fluffy blanket. He smiles a bit and pulls it tighter around himself, listening when he hears voices nearby.

“But we have to go to school.”  
“Why? He almost fucking died. I think that’s a good enough reason to stay home.”  
“Kat, come on, he wouldn’t want us to miss classes.”  
“I don’t fucking care, Sparky.”  
“Hey…” Denki speaks quieter now. “I know you were scared. We all were. But he’s okay. He just needs sleep.”  
“I fucking know. I just…”  
“I know. Me too.”  
“If he almost dies again I’ll fucking kill him myself for even considering leaving us.”

Greed chuckles quietly and cracks an eye open, looking at them by the window.  
“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”  
Katsuki glares at him.  
“Whatever. I’m making breakfast. And I’m staying home today.”  
He storms off.  
Denki joins Greed on the couch and leans into his side.  
“Do you feel better?”  
“Yes, don’t worry. My energy is mostly back. I need some food, a proper shower and then I’ll be good as new.” He lifts his shirt. “Didn’t even leave a scar.” He drops the shirt again and they sit in silence for a bit.  
“Seeing you lying in a pool of blood, with that thing in your stomach…”  
Greed puts an arm around Denki and holds him close.  
“Aizawa shouldn’t have called you. You should have never seen that.”  
“But then you’d be dead now!”

He sighs. The kid is right. Still…  
“I hate that you had to see me like that and then had to take me home and baby me.”  
“Why? You’re always there for us. You should sometimes accept help yourself.”  
With a weak grin, Greed leans his head against Denki’s.  
“I’m bad at accepting help,” he mumbles.  
“I know. But we’ll offer it anyways.”  
“I love you, kid.”  
“Love you too.”

They sit there in silence until the smell of breakfast is carried over from the kitchen, and Greed’s stomach grumbles. Denki snorts and Greed pokes his cheek.  
“Shut up.”  
Then, more quietly, he adds: “Can you let me talk alone with Katsuki for a moment when he’s done cooking?”  
Nodding, Denki jumps to his feet and stretches. Then he hurries away.  
“I didn’t mean you have to send him over,” he calls after him, but the kid is already gone. Greed sighs and waits.  
Katsuki is stomping when he exits the kitchen and walks over to him.  
“What?” he snaps.  
Greed looks at him for a moment and then opens his arms with a little grin.  
The boy glares at him, then walks over and flops down next to him, hugging him tightly.

“You scared the shit out of us, fucking asshole.”  
With gentle hands, Greed holds him close.  
“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “I’m okay, I promise. I won’t die this easily.”  
“This is all because you’re in love with fucking Aizawa. You had to go save him, didn’t you? You have a damn hero complex.”  
Greed huffs, unsure if he’s offended or not.  
“I don’t have a hero complex!”  
“Yes you do. At least with the people you care about. Fuck, you almost died for your brother, didn’t you? And now Aizawa? And you got in danger when looking for me too. You gotta be more careful, dumbass!”  
Before Greed can say something, Katsuki quietly adds: “We need you…”

Sighing, Greed rubs the kid’s back.  
“I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I know you need me. But the world is dangerous, so you have to promise me that if anything happens to me, you take care of the other two for me, okay?”  
“Why me? Ling is way better at that.”  
“But Ling is a little too soft for that much responsibility. You’re the best one for the job. Just trust me.”  
“Nothing will happen to you.”  
“But it might. So please, promise me.”  
“Fine. I promise, but you have to promise that you’ll try to always come back home.”  
Greed smiles and pets Katsuki’s hair.  
“I promise.”

The kid nods against his shoulder and then pulls away, clearing his throat.  
“You’re really touchy recently, what happened to not liking it?”  
He shrugs.  
“I guess I’m getting used to it. I’m starting to like hugs actually, if they’re not too long.”  
Katsuki snorts and pokes his chest.  
“You’re lucky Denki and Ling are cuddle freaks then.”  
Greed smirks and lowers his voice.  
“You want to cuddle one of the cuddle freaks real bad though.”  
“Shut up,” Katsuki hisses, face bright red. “I should have never told you about that. Oh wait, I didn’t, you just pried.”  
“Don’t be so dramatic, I’m just kidding.”  
“Whatever. Breakfast is getting cold, get your ass into the kitchen.”

Mock scandalised, Greed presses his hands to his chest.  
"This is how you treat a terribly injured person?"  
Katsuki holds eye contact with him for a few seconds.  
"You're not injured anymore."  
Then he punches him in the stomach lightly. A gasp leaves Greed and then he's laughing.  
"You're a little brat, kid. You're lucky I love you."  
The boy sticks his tongue out at him and gets up, holding out a hand. Greed grabs it and when Katsuki tries to help him up, Greed pulls strongly and sends the kid stumbling forward onto the couch next to him.  
He laughs again while Katsuki gets back to his feet and glowers at him. 

"You're an asshole."  
"I know!"  
"I'm not helping you up anymore."  
Greed smirks and slowly pushes to his feet.  
"I'm no old man, I can get up on my own."  
Katsuki raises an eyebrow.  
"Then why do you have grey hair when you're not an old man?"  
His jaw drops and then he's sprinting to the bathroom. Only once he's looking at himself up close in the mirror, trying to find the grey hair Katsuki has been talking about, he hears the boy cackling in the living room and sighs.  
"That's not funny! My youth is very precious to me!"  
“Let’s finally eat, old man.”  
Greed runs his fingers through his hair and then makes his way to the kitchen.  
Kids…

\----

During breakfast the others join them too. Kirishima is wearing some of Katsuki’s clothes. Greed remembers that he helped him walk and got blood all over him. He’ll have to apologise for that later and thank the kid for helping. They eat sitting in the living room and on the counter since they only have chairs.  
Afterwards, Greed and Katsuki are having a shouting match in the hallway while the others are awkwardly hanging around.  
Denki is trying to make Katsuki shut up and Ling is attempting the same with Greed, neither very successfully as they’re mostly being ignored.

“You have to go to school, it’s important!”  
“It’s not more important than keeping an eye on you reckless idiot!”  
“You keep forgetting that I’m your father and you should have some respect!”  
“You can shove the respect up your fucking ass!”  
“That’s not how you talk to someone older than you!”  
“Good thing I don’t give a single fuck what you think!”  
“Why can’t you just once in your life listen to me? I’m fine!”  
“What if suddenly you’re not?! Then what?”  
“Then I’ll call you, for fuck’s sake.”

“Katsuki, come on, he’s right, we’re already late to class,” Denki starts hesitantly, but falls silent at the boy’s icy expression.  
Ling has his arms crossed and is staring Greed down now with a death glare that almost rivals Katsuki’s.  
“I agree with him. We’re staying home today.”  
Before Greed can say more, there’s a knock on the door. Ed, clearly relieved that they’re being distracted, walks over quickly, unlocks the door and pulls it open swiftly.  
In front of it is Aizawa, wearing his hero outfit, arms crossed.  
“Are you here to pick up the kids because-”  
Greed’s words die on his tongue when the man kicks off his shoes by the door, strides forward and wraps his arms around Greed.

“Let’s give them a moment,” Denki says quietly and there’s footsteps retreating to the kids’ rooms.

Greed is still too stunned to react to the hug and Aizawa starts pulling back, apologising quietly.  
“I forgot you don’t like it.”  
Finally, he feels in control of his limbs again and his arms snap up to hug the other man back.  
“No, it’s fine,” he mumbles. “You just surprised me.”  
Aizawa smells like cheap soap and cat food. Greed buries his face at his neck and sighs, making the other shiver.  
“You scared me last night,” Aizawa says after a few moments of silence. With another sigh, Greed shakes his head. He doesn’t want to talk about it right now.  
One of Aizawa’s hands moves upwards and buries in Greed’s hair. He almost melts at the touch, especially when he starts gently scratching his head.  
The hug is slowly getting a little awkward and uncomfortable, but Greed doesn’t want it to end yet, so he holds on tighter. Who knows when he’ll get to do this again… The other did kind of imply last night that he likes Greed if he didn’t imagine that in his dying state, but they’re both stubborn and emotionally constipated idiots, so he wouldn’t put it past them to still fuck up.

Finally, Aizawa pushes him away, still gentle about it though.  
“We should talk.”  
“Or we talk later.” Greed just wants Aizawa’s hands in his hair again.  
The man blinks.  
“What do you want to do instead?”  
Greed’s eyes flick to the other’s lips, but Aizawa shakes his head. He decides to be a decent human being for once in his life and not ask or push.  
“You’re right, we should talk… Let’s go into the kitchen, there we have a door to keep the kids out.”  
“They should be in school anyways.”  
“I told them to leave.”  
“I heard your shouting down the hall.”

Embarrassed that he heard their argument, Greed rubs his neck and clears his throat.  
“I know I shouldn’t have yelled at him, but sometimes he just really gets on my nerves…”  
“He yelled just as much so I don’t think talking at normal volume would have helped.”  
“Hm, yeah…”

He pushes his unstyled hair out of his face and then points at the kitchen door.  
“Do you want something to drink while we talk?”  
“Tea would be nice.”

\----

After making them tea and telling the brats to leave for school because he’d be fine and Aizawa is here to keep an eye on him (All Might is taking over for Aizawa today), they sit at the table, kind of awkward.

“So…” Greed starts and clears his throat. “I think I have to apologise. For running away without a word after that movie night.”  
Aizawa is looking at his teacup intently.  
“I thought I reacted wrong and made you uncomfortable, so I didn’t ask you about it again,” he then says.  
Greed bites his lip.  
“Fuck no, you really helped me… I should have thanked you instead of running.”  
“So I did the right things?”  
“Yes. You were kind of amazing actually.” He sips some hot tea. “Home alone I probably would have spiralled again, but you and your cat kept me grounded…”  
The teacher taps a finger on the wooden table and Greed watches the movement.  
“Why did you run away then?”  
Now that’s a difficult question. Greed has an answer, but it’s humiliating…

With a sigh, he sits up more and straightens his back.  
“I was scared of you seeing me differently because I showed you how… broken I am.”  
Aizawa pushes their cups aside and reaches out, carefully taking Greed’s hands.  
“I knew the whole time that there has to be more to you than your cocky flirting. I was just surprised at the… intensity of the emotions you keep hidden.”  
Greed tries to grin and fails. Instead, he just stares at their joined hands where Aizawa is gently rubbing circles onto his wrists with his thumbs.  
“But it’s still too much to ask you to deal with such a mess…”  
“Well, I deal with a lot of messy people as a teacher, in every sense of the word. I think I’m qualified.”  
“Maybe. But you still deserve someone better than me.”  
“Don’t say that,” Aizawa mumbles, and Greed bites his lip and doesn’t reply.

They sit there, holding hands in silence for a while longer.

“I need to tell you something.”  
“Can I ask you for a favour?”

They speak simultaneously, and Greed chuckles a little.  
“You first.”  
“No,” Aizawa insists. “You go.”  
“Fine. I was just… wondering if I could ask you a favour. Or just… ask you for something if we do _this_.”  
“What is it?”  
“This is probably weird coming from me, but can we take things slow? I’ve never done this, I’ve never had actual… feelings for someone. It’s making me all fucking nervous, even just you holding my hands.”  
Aizawa’s soft smile is killing Greed.  
“Of course. My last relationship was a long time ago and didn’t end well…” The smile turns sad and his thumbs pause.

Greed looks at him for a moment, then he starts laughing. The other man seems confused.

“We’re both such a mess, I can’t believe this. Will we ever work together or will it end horribly?”  
Aizawa grins a little.  
“Only time will tell.”

\----

When Aizawa leaves after they finish their tea, Greed realises that they didn’t really decide what to do or be now. Aizawa mentioned a past relationship, so maybe that’s the word for what they are now. In a relationship. But they’re also taking it slow, so maybe calling it a relationship would be too forward.  
Aizawa also didn’t want to kiss him yet, so…  
Greed is lost, so he decides not to think about it. He’ll just see what happens next. A little uncertainty and some surprises won’t hurt. Right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this, I love writing the kids interacting with Greed so much, every time I write Ling and Greed I'm like "yes those are my favourite interactions to write" but then I write Katsuki and Greed and I'm like "Actually, those are my favourite interactions", but then Greed and Denki are also amazing and just... I'm loving every single minute of writing this so much and I hope you love it just as much while reading! <3  
> There's a lot of fun chapters ahead, well, at least they're very fun to write. There'll be more angst too, but I guess that's to be expected with the minor character death tag  
> Well, I will stop talking now and let you get on with your day! Hope you all have a good morning/day/night!
> 
> The next chapter is another side story chapter, but I think you'll really like it. A hint:  
> It's titled "An unlikely friendship"  
> Wonder who that is 😏
> 
> PS: I decided to make tiktoks about this fanfic, so if you wanna see my dumb face, my username is @livesinbooks!


	31. An unlikely friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of nightmares, cursing
> 
> Two things!  
> 1) I added the number of final chapters since all remaining chapters are planned out and in the process of being written!
> 
> 2) I decided to start making tiktoks about this fanfic because I need an outlet for all the dumb ideas I have and also my need to talk about this fic and especially Greedzawa, so if you wanna occasionally see my dumb face do dumb stuff, and give me a pity like, my username is @livesinbooks! 
> 
> Now:  
> Enjoy! I love their dynamic very much and somebody asked me to write them interacting more, so I did! I don't remember who asked, but I want to thank you because I loved writing this!

“Hurry up,” Katsuki hisses at Ed who looks around before quickly jumping over the fence from the little pillar he made with his quirk. He grins triumphantly for a second before the alarm starts blaring.  
“Fuck!” Katsuki looks around frantically for a way to shut off the noise. He should have known that sneaking someone onto school grounds at night wouldn’t be so easy.  
Ed is looking at him worried.  
“In how much trouble are we?”  
“Depends on who finds us.”

It’s Aizawa who comes running towards them. When he recognises them, his face looks more resigned and tired than angry, but Katsuki isn’t sure if that’s good or bad. He talks to someone on the phone and then the alarm stops and it’s eerily quiet.  
Ed looks like he wants to hide behind him, so Katsuki glares at him, and Ed stays by his side instead.  
Aizawa reaches them and crosses his arms.  
“What are you doing out here? It’s almost curfew. And you don’t belong to this school.”  
“It’s none of your business,” Katsuki snaps. Ed hits his arm.  
“Just shut up. I’m sorry, Aizawa sensei. It was my idea to climb over the fence, Katsuki wanted to talk.”  
“So you decide to sneak in here to do that instead of just waiting until tomorrow afternoon and meeting in the city?”  
Katsuki is embarrassed, so he glares a little harder.  
“You see-”  
“Just drop it, metal arm. Go home. It’s not that urgent.”

Both Ed and Aizawa are looking at him like they know he’s lying. He fucking hates it.

“You know, I did save Greed’s life a few days ago, so I really should be given special permission to come here whenever I want,” Ed says smugly.  
Aizawa watches him for a moment before he sighs deeply.  
“You’re right. Just ask me next time and I’ll let you in through the gate.”  
Katsuki blinks in surprise.  
“Wait, seriously?”  
“Yes. Just don’t tell any teachers or other classes. This is a 1A secret, got it? And get rid of that pillar you made.”  
“Yes, Sir!” Ed salutes grinning, uses his quirk so the raised stone moves back down into the floor, and then grabs Katsuki’s arm.  
“Don’t fucking touch me,” he snaps, but doesn’t mean it. Ed knows by now and just drags him along as if he knows the way. Katsuki eventually has to take the lead so they reach his room.

\--

Their unlikely friendship started a few weeks after Katsuki had first met Ed. They’re pretty similar with their explosive personalities, need to prove themselves and big brother instincts. Ed understands him like not many people do without Katsuki having to explain himself. And even though he can be really damn annoying, Katsuki trusts him and considers him a very good friend. Probably his best friend after Kirishima.  
The others don’t know. Somehow it was just never important to tell Ling or Denki or even Greed that Ed and him get along really well. Maybe Katsuki is embarrassed to have an idiot like Ed as his best friend. But then again, everyone he knows are idiots.

Ed knows about his crush on Denki, and Katsuki realised something since moving into the dorms, and he finally has to talk about it.

In his room, he sits down on his bed after locking the door, and Ed sits on his desk.  
“There’s a chair right there.”  
“I’m too gay to sit on a chair.”  
Katsuki pinches the bridge of his nose.  
“I fucking hate you.”  
“Keep telling yourself that. So, why did you want to talk? You said it’s an emergency.”  
“It isn’t.”  
“Then why did you say that?”

Katsuki doesn’t look in his direction. Yeah, why did he make Ed come all the way here so late? Definitely not just to tell him about his realisation. Maybe he just felt a little lonely and didn’t feel like bothering anyone else. Maybe he missed Ed even though he saw him a few days ago. Maybe he just felt like having Ed over. He still doesn’t sleep well, so maybe if Ed agrees to sleep here because it’s too late to take the train home… He won’t have to ask for it and explain himself. It’ll just make sense for him to stay.

He shakes his head and shrugs.  
“Whatever, just tell me what’s up,” Ed says. He probably knows Katsuki’s reasons anyway. He tends to figure him out a bit too easily.  
“I like someone.”  
“Denki, I know. You told me about that weeks ago.”  
“No. Not Denki.”  
“You don’t like him anymore?”  
“I do, will you shut up and let me speak?”  
Ed rolls his eyes but stays quiet.  
“I like Denki. But… I think I like someone else too.”  
Now the other blond looks curious and leans forward on the desk.  
“Oh now that’s curious. Who is it?”

Katsuki blinks.  
“So you don’t think that’s weird?”  
“No? Why should it be? If you like two people then you like two people.”  
“Well, yes. Right. You don’t know him well.”  
“So it’s not Kirishima?”  
“No. He’s just a friend.”  
“Come on, don’t make me guess. Who is it?”  
Too embarrassed to say it, Katsuki chews on his lip and looks at his hands. He’s angry with himself for being such a baby about this.  
Ed dangles his legs impatiently.  
“Is it Ling? You know he’s off limits, right? And I do know him well.”  
“Ew no, it’s not Ling.”  
“Why are you saying ew? Do you want me to beat you up?”  
“Shut the fuck up, he’s like a brother to me, so it’s disgusting that you think I like him like that.”  
Ed lets it slide.  
“Is it me?” he then asks and wiggles his eyebrows.  
“No! Stop guessing. It’s fucking Sero, okay? Happy now?”  
“Oh, tape boy? He’s cute, though he should really get a haircut.”

Katsuki nods, still a little wary. Is it really okay to like more than one person romantically? Or is Ed secretly making fun of him right now? Will he tell everyone about it?

“Hey, what’s on your mind, Kitty?”  
“I told you not to fucking call me that. It sounds like we’re dating.”  
“But it’s funny. Because Ling and Denki call you Kat and that’s almost cat.”  
“Shut up, you’re an idiot.”  
“I bet you’d let Denki and Sero call you kitty. I thought I’m your best friend.”  
“Shitty hair is my best friend.”

Ed dramatically throws himself to the floor. There’s a _thunk_ as he lands on his prosthetic arm. It’s absolutely stupid, and Katsuki should punch him, but the face the other boy is pulling is making him fight laughter.  
“Let me guess, you didn’t think throwing yourself off the desk would actually hurt?”  
“Stop finding my pain amusing, asshole.”  
“It’s your own damn fault. No idea how Ling can date someone with not a single brain cell in sight.”  
“You’re distracting from my question from earlier,” Ed cuts him off and lies on his back on the floor, peering up at Katsuki.

Katsuki crosses his arms.  
“So what?”  
“Tell me what’s on your mind or I’ll keep calling you kitty.”  
“I really fucking hate you. Fine. I’m trying to figure out if you’re making fun of me.”

Ed blinks.  
“For liking Sero? I mean, his elbows are kinda weird, but I’m not about to quirk-shame anyone, and he is really handsome actually-”  
“For liking Sero _and_ Denki,” Katsuki interrupts him.  
“You’re an idiot.”

He glares down at him, but Ed doesn’t even blink an eye at his expression, instead he gets up and shoves Katsuki’s shoulders.  
“I told you it’s fine! And if they both like you too, you can date them and that’ll be fine.”  
“Stop shoving me.”  
“Then stop being an idiot.”

But he does stop touching him, and they’re silent for a bit.  
“Hey, wanna sneak out?”  
“Now you’re the idiot, Blondie.”  
“You’re blond too.”  
“Not the point.”

Katsuki is tired, but he knows he’ll have nightmares when he closes his eyes. Since a few days ago he sometimes dreams of Greed lying in a pool of blood, additionally to the usual kidnapping and being choked by sludge. He really doesn’t want to deal with that right now, so he gets up.  
“If we get in trouble I’ll say you drugged me and forced me to come along.”  
“Chill, we’re just going to the roof.”

\--

They make it up there undetected with a little help from Ed's quirk. It’s cold, considering it’s mid September and almost midnight. Katsuki and Ed sit down side by side with their backs to the wall next to the door, and stare at the sky together.  
“You should take Smiley here. You could do the thing where you show him star constellations and he pretends not to see them so you get really close to him to point,” Katsuki mumbles, only a little snark in his voice.  
“I might do that. But not tonight. Tonight is bro night.” He can hear the smile in Ed’s voice.  
“Stop. You got that from Shitty Hair and Sparky, didn’t you?”  
“You’re my brooo,” Ed drawls, smirking, and Katsuki hits him. Scoffing, the smaller boy leans his head back against the wall. He starts humming quietly, and Katsuki doesn’t murder him for it. He’s tired and cold.

His friend - he needs to get used to calling people that, it still feels weird - seems to pick up on it and takes off his ugly red coat and drapes it over both of their shoulders.  
“Why do you have so many red clothes?”  
“I like the colour.”  
“Weirdo.”  
But he leans against Ed’s shoulder so they’re close enough for the coat to cover them both properly.

“If you ever tell anybody…” He trails off, unsure what he’s trying to say. Ed doesn’t ask, instead brings up something else.  
“You know, it kinda sucks that nobody knows we’re friends.”  
“Then tell them. But don’t tell them I let you get close. They tease me enough about it with Kirishima.”  
“Aww, you called him by his name.”  
“Shut up, metal arm.”  
“You want my metal arm in your face?”

Katsuki snorts and then yawns even though he tries to hold it back.  
“You don’t sleep well?” Ed asks, and he glares at him. They don’t do that. They don’t talk about serious stuff ever unless the person it’s about brings up the topic unprompted.  
Ed seems to be currently throwing that rule off the roof.  
“Nightmares?” he pushes on. Katsuki kind of wants to murder him. He settles on a death glare instead. Ed just patiently waits it out, not even raising an eyebrow.  
It frustrates Katsuki to no end that Ed can deal so well with his personality.

Finally, he caves because he’s fucking exhausted and Greed told him to learn to deal with his emotions.  
“Fine. Yes.”  
“Is that why you asked me to come over immediately? Not that the crush news isn't exciting, but really no emergency.”  
Katsuki is embarrassed and wants to lash out to protect himself, but Ed just keeps talking, not giving him a chance to start yelling.  
“You could have just asked me to sleep over. Or Denki or Ling. Or Sero. Or Kirishima. You shared a bed with most of them before, didn’t you?”  
He doesn’t reply. It’s not as easy as Ed makes it sound, it’s-  
“I know it’s not easy to ask for help, but you wanna be number one, so you gotta learn how to do that.”  
Gritting his teeth, Katsuki shoves Ed’s arm.  
“Stop saying my thoughts aloud.”  
Ed smirks.  
“I know you too well, Kitty.”  
“Stop it!”

The other chuckles but shuts up. Instead, he leans his head against Katsuki’s shoulder and sighs.  
“What about you?” Katsuki asks after a moment. “You miss Ling a lot?”  
“Kind of, yes…”  
“You gotta take him on a date again. The last few times you only hung out in a group.”  
“Giving me relationship advice, Kitty?”  
“I _will_ throw you off the roof if you don’t stop.”  
“Fine, idiot. You’re right, I’ll take him on a proper date tomorrow.”  
Tomorrow is Friday, so that should work. Katsuki wonders how Denki or Sero would react if he asked them out. One of them. Both of them? Fuck, this is complicated.

A gust of wind blows under the coat and makes them both shiver. Ed shifts the last bit closer to Katsuki so their sides are pressed together. Katsuki doesn’t mind it. It’s actually kind of nice. At first, after moving out from home, he was a little confused and uncomfortable with a lot of touching, but physical contact is actually pretty amazing when it’s not intended to hurt. He’d rather cut off his own tongue than admit it, but he loves hugs and cuddling.  
Kirishima picked up on it a while back, so he’s always throwing an arm around him or sitting close to him, giving him random hugs. Katsuki fucking loves it.  
Only when Denki touches him there’s always the added nervousness that fills him. And now also with Sero.  
He shakes his head, not wanting to think about that right now. Crushes are stupid and confusing. He’ll stick to cuddling his friends.

The wind picks up and clouds start to cover the stars and the moon. Ed gets up.  
“Okay, we should probably sleep. I gotta leave early to get to school.”  
Katsuki feels kind of bad for keeping Ed here overnight, but the other isn’t complaining, so he’s not going to dwell on that feeling.

He grabs Ed’s hand when it’s offered to him and lets him help him up. The smaller boy takes his coat again and puts it back on, then they walk back inside through the door and make their way downstairs.

\--

Back in Katsuki’s room, he throws a clean shirt at Ed and a pair of sweatpants that the other is almost drowning in. He grins and Ed glares, daring him to make fun of him.  
Not wanting to wake Kirishima in the neighbouring room with Ed’s screaming, Katsuki drops any teasing he would have usually done, and changes into his sleepwear, his back turned to Ed.

A minute later, they’re climbing into bed, and Katsuki breathes in and out deeply. He hates being alone since the stupid kidnapping. He can still feel the hands grabbing at him and the weird feeling of being compressed into a marble when it’s too quiet and still in his room.  
Ed grabs his hand and the phantom hands leave him alone.  
He shifts closer to his friend and curls up next to him.

“Good night, Blasty.”  
“Night, Tiny.”

The hand tightens around his and he grins.  
“Don’t call me Blasty and I won’t call you small.”  
“How about you just call me by my name? Or is that impossible for you?”  
“Hmm, I can try.”  
“I’ll call you Katsuki then. Or just Kat, that’s shorter.”  
“Whatever,” Katsuki mumbles, too tired to really care anymore. He can hear Ed chuckle and then the boy pets his hair.

“Just sleep. You’re safe.”  
“I fucking know.” Katsuki yawns and relaxes. He really is safe. “If you accidentally hit me with your fucking prosthetic, I’m burning all your red clothes,” he adds as a quiet afterthought before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their friendship is amazing, isn't it? And they would be friends, I don't take any criticism. Yes, they'd fight a shit ton because they're quite similar, but I think they'd also really understand the other and know how to help each other.
> 
> Next chapter has some drama, some fluff and some fun. Hint: It's the final week of September. (I use a unofficial timeline, so if some of the dates are wrong btw, that's not my fault, but since I don't really mention the months too often I think it's okay!)


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aizawa is busy and Greed isn't too happy about it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing, mention of a traumatised child but nothing graphic or described, hint on canon injuries & death but nothing graphic or detailed  
> Spoiler Warning: Shie Hassaikai Arc/Yakuza Arc
> 
> One day late because I was busy yesterday and then I wasn't motivated to beta read and upload, I apologise!  
> Hope you like this chapter!

Greed is pissed. Because basically immediately after their talk that morning after the eventful patrol, Aizawa is busy. Too busy to hang out or talk, and he seems distracted whenever he sees him in the hallway.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Greed demands when he spots the man near an empty classroom.  
“Leave me alone, Greed, not now. Not today.”  
“Tell me,” he snaps. Aizawa doesn’t even look at him, and something else joins the anger in his chest: worry.  
“What’s wrong?” he asks, quieter than before.  
Aizawa looks at him and sighs deeply.  
“I really can’t tell you,” he finally says. “It’s important information that I can’t spread.”  
“You know I wouldn’t tell anybody. I can keep a secret.”  
“I’m not allowed to tell you, and that’s final.” Aizawa’s voice is harsh, but his eyes are begging Greed to understand. He really can’t tell him.

Greed sighs.  
“Fine. Just… stay safe, okay? We’ll talk when this… thing or whatever is going on is over.”  
“Okay.”

\----

Greed hears about it from Denki who heard it from Todoroki: Midoriya and some third year students are in the hospital, a few pro-heroes and some of the girls as well, and nobody who wasn’t involved really knows what happened.

**Greed @ Hot & Homeless**

**Greed** : Can you finally tell me what happened?

Aizawa doesn’t answer for a few hours, and Greed is slowly losing his mind. Then, finally, his phone announces the reply:

**Hot & Homeless**: It’s a long story. The short version is that we rescued a little girl and a lot of people got hurt

**Greed** : Are you okay?

**Hot & Homeless**: I’m fine. I’m more worried about my students

**Greed** : How badly did they get hurt?

**Hot & Homeless**: They’ll be okay too, physically

Greed frowns. Now that’s ominous.

**Greed** : Do you need me to come to the hospital?

**Hot & Homeless**: No

Now that’s a blunt answer, not even an explanation. But Aizawa is probably tired and worried and just overall cranky, so he texts him back an _Okay_ and tries to distract his mind from the issue.

\----

Greed gets filled in on the details over the course of the next few days, but that doesn’t mean things are okay again. Aizawa visits the girl, Eri, in the hospital a lot and is generally distracted. He also seems to be avoiding Greed. And Greed can’t even be mad.  
He’s honestly just disappointed and lonely.

The kids are picking up on it, not only his, but also a lot of other students, mainly from 1A, since Greed hangs around their dorm with the boys sometimes.  
The pink one invites him to girls’ night on Friday, and he feels crappy, so he accepts.

He arrives on time at the dorms and ponytail girl gets up from the couch, telling him to sit there instead.  
“You have girls’ night in the living room? Aren’t the boys bothering you?”  
“Nope,” invisible girl says, voice happy. “They have their boys’ night on Saturday. And if one or more of them really wants to join, we let them. We’re all friends anyways.”  
Greed nods slowly and smirks.  
“Glad to hear you get along so well. So, what happens on girls’ night?”  
“Well, sometimes we talk about crushes, do our hair, or use facemasks,” gravity girl says. Greed needs to learn their names.

“Okay, before you continue, I have to admit that I am really bad at remembering names,” he says and then listens as they introduce themselves again. He nods along, trying to keep them in mind. Frog girl is the last one.  
“My name is Tsuyu Asui, but you can call me Tsu, everyone does.”  
“Got it, okay. Uraraka, Yaomomo, Tsu, Jirou, Ashido-”  
“I said to call me Mina.”  
“Right, Mina. Hagakure. Right?”  
“Perfect,” Mina says grinning and claps her hands. “Back to our plans. Sometimes we watch movies while we do all this stuff. Anybody have a suggestion?”

Greed crosses his arms and leans back while they discuss what to watch. Some suggestions sound like romantic comedies, some like more action movies.  
When they have finally narrowed it down to three movies, they look at him.

“You need to pick, you’re our guest.”  
“Okay, what are the options?”  
“Rom-com, horror, pre-quirk sci-fi.”  
Thoughtfully, Greed chews on his lip. Rom-com would just make him feel worse right now, horror is probably not ideal if they do hair braiding or facemasks or shit, so the obvious choice would be-  
“Let’s do sci-fi,” he says.

A few minutes later the movie is playing in the background, and Mina is handing out facemasks. Greed grabs his and looks at the packaging.  
It’s supposed to smell like watermelon and hydrate his face. Well, it can’t hurt.

Yaomomo helps him put it on properly and then he leans back and watches the screen for a bit, not fully paying attention to the plot. He knows Aizawa is in the same building, and it’s making him a little antsy. He tries to push the thoughts and feelings away because they’re really not helping right now. The other man is ignoring him and pushing him away. Maybe he should work on letting him go.  
No… Not yet. He’ll have his reasons for needing space, no need to be dramatic.  
There’ll be an explanation, he’s sure of it.

Uraraka snaps him out of his thoughts when she taps his shoulder and tells him that the ten minutes are over and they need to take the facemasks off. They pause the film and move to the bathroom for that, and soon return to the couch with hydrated faces. Greed’s face feels very soft now and he kind of likes it.  
“Denki said you sometimes braid Ling’s hair for him,” Mina says when they all settled down.  
“I do.”  
“How did you learn?”  
He chews on his lip and takes a deep breath. Then he puts on a grin.  
“Just practice, you know? It’s not that hard if you keep trying. Anybody want me to braid their hair?”  
All hands fly into the air - Jirou and Hagakure’s a little slower than the others’ - and he huffs amused.  
“Alright, one after the other. Let’s start with the longest hair.”  
“How do you know my hair isn’t the longest?” Hagakure asks.  
Greed blinks.  
“I guess you’re right. Is it longer than Tsu’s?”  
“No, it’s not.” She chuckles and Greed snorts.  
“Okay, I need hair ties and a brush.”

He’s handed both by Yaomomo and brushes Tsu’s hair carefully while they’re watching the movie. He braids it with practised hands and then twirls it into a bun, securing it with a lot of hair ties and some bobby pins Mina pushes into his hand.

“Wow,” Uraraka says, sounding seriously impressed. Greed chuckles and waves her over.  
“Come on, you're next, even though I don’t know what to do with hair your length, I’m only used to quite long hair.”  
“That’s okay, you don’t have to-”  
“Oh no, we’ll figure something out. I promised you all hairstyles.”

At the end of the movie - which got more interesting when they had glowing weapons and fought, especially towards the end around all the lava - all of the girls have some sort of new fancy braid in their hair, and they seem to really like them. Greed is grinning as they take pictures together.  
They successfully distracted him from any thoughts about Aizawa for almost two hours. He’s grateful.  
He gets another chorus of Thank you’s, and waves them off.  
“No worries. I’m glad I’m not too much out of practice. I used to braid my brother’s hair all the time.” With a sigh, he shakes his head. He did not intend to say that. Mina opens her mouth, possibly to pry, but Yaomomo puts a hand on her arm.

“You’re always welcome to join us again.”  
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Why did you invite me anyways? I never really talked to any of you privately.”  
Tsu scratches her arm.  
“You looked sad. And we like having you around the dorms. Katsuki is way more tolerable since he lives with you. And Denki is happy too, kero.”  
“You just seem really cool,” Jirou mumbles.  
Greed smiles a little. They’re so sweet to him, does he even deserve this? Probably now.

He crosses his legs on the couch.  
“So, is girls night over after the movie?”  
“No. Now it’s crush time.” Mina smirks, while a few of the other girls blush. Greed chuckles.  
“If you don’t want me here for that-”  
“We want to know all about your relationship with Aizawa,” Mina interrupts him.  
Greed blinks, taken aback. Uraraka shushes her.  
“We told you not to ask about that!”  
“But they’re so obvious! Greed was wearing his clothes, and he spent the night in his apartment!”

Well, apparently they’re really more obvious than Greed thought. But obvious in what? What _are_ they, now that Aizawa is avoiding him?

“You don’t have to answer, just ignore her,” Jirou says. “We do that a lot when she wants to talk about crushes.”  
“Yes because you have a big gay crush on-”  
“Mina,” Hagakure interrupts her quickly and Mina pouts.  
“Fine, you don’t have to tell us about you and Aizawa sensei.”  
“There’s not much to tell right now anyways.” It slips out and Greed swallows a curse. He can save this. “I won’t talk about it now because this isn’t only about me, but also your teacher, and I have a feeling he wouldn’t be comfortable with me telling you about his private life. So please stop prying.”  
“Of course,” Mina says, sounding embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

Greed shrugs.  
“It’s fine, you’re curious, I get that. Let’s talk about your crush then.”  
Mina’s face turns a darker shade of pink and Greed smirks.  
“Oh, I mean… I don’t really have one right now.”  
Hagakure giggles at that and Mina flips her off.  
“I can talk about my crush,” the invisible girl then says, probably as a peace offering.  
“But you talk about Ojiro during every girls night,” Jirou complains.  
“Which one is Ojiro again?” Greed asks. He’s not that into gossip, but right now he’s jumping at every opportunity to shut off his brain.  
“The one with the tail, the blond one,” Uraraka replies and he nods. He remembers that one, he has impressive close combat skills.  
“He’s just so cute! He complimented my outfit this morning.” There’s a smile audible in her voice, and Greed is kind of sad that they can’t actually see her smile. He wonders if it ever bothers her to be invisible.

Hagakure keeps talking about Ojiro, and the others occasionally make an affirmative sound. Greed lets the chatter wash over himself and relaxes.

\----

Aizawa talks to him again a few days later. He shows up at Greed’s office and closes the door behind himself. Greed frowns and watches him over his desk. Aizawa looks around the room before leaning against the door.

“We should talk.”  
“Oh, so you’re done avoiding me?”  
He shouldn’t be upset, he doesn’t know his reasoning. But he is kind of upset.  
“Yes. I’m sorry I did that.”  
“You better be,” Greed grumbles. “So talk then. Why did you avoid me?”  
“I have a lot going on right now.”  
Aizawa sounds so tired, and Greed’s stomach churns with worry and guilt for being such an ass about this. He gets up.  
“Come on, sit down.”  
The teacher does, and a deep sigh leaves him as he leans back in the chair. Greed sits on the desk in front of him and watches him.

“Tell me what’s going on. Maybe I can help.”  
“I’m thinking about adopting Eri, but I don’t know if that isn’t too much responsibility.”  
That’s… a lot.  
“Look.” He pauses for a moment, unsure what to call him. On patrol while dying he called him Shouta. But they probably moved backwards again.  
He’ll stick with Aizawa.  
“Yes, a little traumatised girl is probably a lot of responsibility, but you’re up for that, Aizawa. You’re a good teacher. And you have your son, right? He can help out. And…”  
He hesitates again, but only for a moment.  
“I could help a bit too.”

Aizawa sighs.  
“I don’t want to be rude, but I’d rather you not talk to Eri too much if I ever bring her here.”  
Greed blinks, too shocked to be hurt or upset.  
“Excuse me?”  
“You don’t really have appropriate language for a small child, and…”  
“And?”  
“And you… get a little crude.”  
“And you think I can’t behave in front of a child?” he asks, frowning.  
“I mean…”  
“No, Aizawa. That’s fu- freaking… silly. I can behave and I’ll prove it to you, you… annoying person.”  
The other seems to be fighting a laugh.  
“Okay, fine. Practice some more and my worries will be eased.”  
“You bet your… butt I’ll practice.”

It feels unnatural to censor his own language, but he can fucking do it! He wants to meet that little girl for which one pro-hero died and so many got injured.

Greed reaches out and takes Aizawa’s hand in his, but the man flinches and pulls away.  
“Not right now,” he mumbles apologetically.  
“What else is on your mind?”  
“I almost got my students killed…”  
“Yeah, no, that’s wrong.”  
“It’s not. And one of them lost his quirk…”  
Aizawa’s voice is shaking, so Greed slips off the desk and kneels on the floor in front of him, putting his hands on his knees.  
“That’s not your fault.”  
“It is. I let them go. I shouldn’t have let them.”  
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but they were doing their work studies and their supervisors got to decide whether they go or not.”

Aizawa doesn’t correct him, but he’s avoiding Greed’s eyes, and his hands are fisted around the black fabric of his hero uniform tightly. Greed moves his hands and cups Aizawa’s. This time the other doesn’t pull back.

“Tell me about Eri,” he prompts quietly.  
“She’s such a sweet girl, but life was cruel to her… I want her out of that hospital where she’s alone so much.”  
“She has a horn, right? That’s how her quirk works?”  
“Yes. She’s incredibly strong, and it scares her.”  
“We can work on making her less scared of her own power.”  
“She needs to be trained and taught about it…”

Greed strokes Aizawa’s hands absently.

“You know, if you hadn’t saved her, if someone else had, she could be on her way to becoming a villain right now. That’s what happens to kids with powerful, scary and possibly villainous quirks a lot, isn't it?”  
“Are you talking about Shigaraki?”  
“I looked at some info on the League.” Because of Envy. “And I couldn’t help but think that if Shigaraki had gone to a hero school and learned how to use his quirk for good, he could be an excellent hero for rescue work, disintegrating debris when someone is trapped under it and stuff like that.”  
Aizawa nods slowly.  
“But he chose to become a villain, and we can’t change that anymore.”

It’s the truth, and Greed knows that, but that also means Aizawa would say the same about his brother. Envy can’t be saved anymore…  
He sighs and lifts one of Aizawa’s hands to his lips, kissing his knuckles gently.

“Adopt Eri. Prove to yourself that you’re a great dad. You’re not alone. You got Mic and me to help out. And your class would surely also volunteer to babysit a lot.”  
“I’ll think about it…”  
“Okay.”  
“And about the guilt… Trust me… It doesn’t go away that easily, so you best learn to live with it.”  
Aizawa nods and finally looks at him. His eyes are soft.  
“I should have talked to you sooner.”  
Greed grins lightly.  
“Yeah, why does nobody ever trust that talking to me actually helps? I have three kids, I have practice with listening and trying to help.”  
His words make Aizawa smile a bit.

“Three kids? I thought you adopted Monoma too.”  
“Not yet. I’m still not sure if he needs it, he doesn’t talk much about himself. But he trusts me, so I just hope he’ll tell me if he needs help.”  
“You’re a good man, Greed.”  
“I’m not,” Greed corrects. “But thank you.”  
Before Aizawa can protest, he kisses his hand again and then stands up straight.  
“I’m hungry, it’s lunch break, isn’t it? Let’s go get something to eat. Don’t think I forgot about your eating issues.”

That successfully distracts Aizawa from the previous topic and he groans.  
“Fine, but I won’t eat much.”  
“We’ll see about that.”  
Greed pulls Aizawa to his feet and towards the door.  
“You’re insufferable.”  
“No, I’m just looking out for you.”  
The door falls closed behind them and they’re walking down the hallway together.  
“Fine…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this!  
> I'm always happy about feedback! Thank you so much to the people who still write comments, they make me really happy and keep me motivated to keep writing <3
> 
> Next chapter: Envy & the League part 2 - how Dabi found Envy + the full Natshig conversation & some more of their interactions (it kind of escalated and became a whole thing that could be its own separate Oneshot, so I hope you like Natshig otherwise you can just read the Dabi & Envy part and skip the rest :D)
> 
> PS: They watched Star Wars 3 Revenge of the Sith


	33. How Dabi found Envy & Natsuo and Shigaraki's shopping trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: light injury, mention of violence & torture, mention of child abuse (Endeavor), mention of Shigaraki's obsessive scratching  
> Spoiler Warning: light hints on Shigaraki's backstory, but only those who know will even realise it
> 
> Tags for the second half of this chapter: fake dating & an excessive amount of hand holding 🥰
> 
> I gotta ask you for something very important!  
> My friend is desperately looking to buy an English copy of Banana Fish Volume 19, so if you or anyone you know owns one and is willing to sell it, please message me on Twitter @xLivesInBooks, or comment on this so we can find a way to communicate, I would really appreciate your help, thank you <3

**Envy**

Envy is hungry and tired. And scared. What if father sent Lust after him? Or Pride?  
He flinches away from shadows as much as possible, but the sun is starting to set, so he presses himself against the wall in an alley behind a convenience store and slides to the floor. He’ll be fine. They won’t find him. He’s far away.

After what feels like hours, he slips into a light sleep from which he’s woken again because it starts raining. Envy wants to cry. Why is his luck so bad? At this rate he’ll be dead from hypothermia in the morning because he’s only wearing jeans and a crop top. He should have brought a fucking jacket, but it’s July, it’s supposed to be warm. The rain however seems to not have gotten the memo, so Envy is shivering and wraps his arms around himself tightly.  
His black hair's hanging down in wet strands, water dripping onto his skin. He wonders distantly where Greed is and if he’s as miserable as Envy. Probably not… That selfish asshole.

Suddenly, Envy sees a figure enter the alley and tenses. They’re tall and are wearing a dark jacket, hood over their head. Envy holds his breath and tries to shrink into the shadows, but then his hand lands on something sharp as he moves back further, and he yelps.  
Now the person definitely knows he’s here, and Envy panics and jumps up, running towards the other end of the alley. It’s a dead end and he turns back around, fear tightening his chest.  
“Please don’t hurt me,” he begs, tearing up. His body is still recovering from his father’s ‘interrogation’, and he’s too weak to fight.  
“What are you doing here?”  
Their voice is calm and deep. Envy doesn’t trust it.  
“I was just sitting. I wasn’t doing anything.”  
“Why were you sitting in the rain in the dark?”

Envy rubs his nose and sniffles. The movement hurts because the adrenaline is slowly fading again, and he becomes aware of the cut in his hand from what was probably a broken bottle.  
“I ran away from home,” he says simply.  
“Do you have anywhere to go?”  
“No.”

They look at each other in silence for a bit, but Envy can’t really see him well without light and with the heavy rain making everything kind of blurry.  
Then, a hand appears in front of his face.  
“Come with me. I know a dry place for you to warm up. And then you tell me why you ran away.”  
Envy considers the hand. He can’t just trust the first random stranger that talks to him. He could have evil plans for what to do with Envy.  
But he’s so tired and hungry and _cold_. His body hurts, his hand hurts, he misses Greed and he’s so lonely. He’d take being kidnapped over being alone right now, so he takes the offered hand with his uninjured one.  
“Okay.”

-

The guy takes Envy back to the main street and then leads him into an empty building. He never lets go of his hand.  
In the glow of the street lights, Envy could see purple scars and burning blue eyes. He wonders who the man is.

In the building, the guy takes out his phone and taps on it and then they wait a few minutes until a swirling mist opens in front of them. Envy doesn’t even question it, just steps through it with the mysterious man.

They come out in another dusty place, but there’s a couch in a corner and a table with some chairs.  
Envy looks around, wondering if there’s others nearby, but the guy seems to read his mind.  
“We’re alone. I can’t take you to my… group yet. I need to know who you are first. But here are dry clothes and blankets and some food.”  
As if it has been listening in, his stomach growls loudly at the mention of food, and Envy’s face heats up in embarrassment.  
“Why are you helping me?” he asks to distract from it. The guy watches him with his stunning eyes.  
“Because I was like you once. Alone and afraid and hurt.”  
He grabs Envy’s injured hand and inspects it.  
“We should bandage that before you change your clothes.”

Shaken by the gentle touch, Envy can’t reply, just stares at him. For almost five months, since Greed had left, whenever someone touched him, it was practical, like to shove him out of the way, or with the intention to hurt him. He feels pathetic, but he kind of wants to cry again. His emotions are all over the place and he knows he won’t get a grip on them anytime soon. First he needs food, dry clothes, a warm blanket and sleep. Then he can recover.

“What’s your name?” the guy interrupts his thoughts.  
“Envy. What’s yours?”  
“Dabi. Come on, Envy. There’s a first aid kit in the bathroom.”  
He takes him by the elbow and leads him down a hallway. Envy leans into the touch more than he wants to admit.

-

After Dabi bandaged his hand, he made him a sandwich with stuff from the fridge, gave him dry clothes to put on and a blanket.  
Now Envy is sitting on the couch, wrapped in said blanket, eating the sandwich while Dabi is slouching on the worn-out coffee table in front of him, watching him.  
“Your staring is kind of weird,” Envy eventually says between two bites.  
“I’m trying to figure you out, Envy.”  
“Why do you keep saying my name like that?”  
“I like it. It’s an interesting name.”  
Envy’s face heats up and he stuffs the rest of the sandwich in his mouth so he doesn’t have to come up with a reply to that.

“So, did your family hurt you?”  
He chews and swallows before he can reply.  
“I hurt my hand in the alley.”  
“I don’t mean your hand. I saw the scars when you changed. And you flinch when you move your arms.”

Envy stares at a stain on the couch and thinks back to when Lust pinned him to the table with her spear-fingers - right through his upper arms. It’s not fully healed yet because she twisted them in the wound, and he’s too exhausted for his small healing quirk to work.

“Yes, it was my father and siblings.”  
“Your siblings too?” Dabi asks and Envy looks at him. The man is frowning.  
“Yes. Well, most of them. One used to never hurt me… He protected me. But… he ran away from home a few months ago. Without me.”  
He sniffles again and chews on his lip.

Dabi gets up.  
“I’ll make you another sandwich and then you sleep.”  
Envy nods absently and then, as an afterthought, he adds:  
“Thank you. You saved my life tonight.”  
“Don’t mention it.”

**Natsuo**

Natsuo is watching Shigaraki nervously. He asked him to talk in private after Envy zoned out on the couch, so now they’re in one of the almost empty rooms, Natsuo leaning against a wall and Shigaraki sitting on a bare desk. This isn’t the first time they talked without anyone else there, but Natsuo will probably never stop being nervous in these situations, for multiple reasons.

“What did Envy do so he couldn’t be picked up immediately?”  
Shigaraki is getting straight to the point, huh?  
“We ate something. He was really hungry.”  
The villain boss frowns.  
“That’s all? You ate?”  
“Yes. Apparently you don’t feed your League enough. It worries me, actually.” Natsuo crosses his arms, feeling a little bolder with every second. The League needs him after all, so they can’t kill him for something simple like speaking out of turn. Right?  
Shigaraki narrows his eyes.  
“Being a villain doesn’t exactly pay much.”  
“Right…”

They look at each other in silence for a bit, then Natsuo rubs his neck.  
“Look, I’m not sure if Envy told the truth about his injuries. They were really deep claw marks. I haven’t heard of a hero yet with a quirk that could do that that was in the city during the time it has to have happened.”  
“You think he’s lying?”  
“I’m not sure… Honestly, I really don’t know what to think about all this. Maybe I’m wrong. I could be wrong.”

Natsuo sighs and runs a hand over his face. He wonders why he got involved with the League again. - Oh yes, because of his idiot brother.  
Dabi hasn’t shown any signs of recognition towards him so far, but Natsuo isn’t stupid. He knows he’s Touya, and he’ll get him to admit it one day, and then he’ll find out what exactly happened to him…

When he saw him on the street a while back, he immediately recognised his eyes and knew in his heart who he was, so he followed him. He lied about hating heroes and wanting to help the League in the one way he could: with his medical knowledge. He’s doing this for his brother. And now also for Shigaraki. He doesn’t believe that they’re beyond hope. And their ideals… They do make sense. There are false heroes like Endeavor who shouldn’t have the power and freedom they do, he experienced it up close. So maybe this whole thing isn’t that much of a lie. He doesn’t want them to kill all heroes and flip society upside down, but he wants them to reform hero society, to make it better.

Shigaraki’s next question pulls him from his thoughts.  
“So do you think it was a hero?”

Natsuo needs a second to remember what they were talking about.  
“No. It could have been an unknown one, but I’m not sure.”  
“What does it matter who did it?” The League boss sounds tired and he’s tapping one finger on his leg rapidly. They should maybe drop this, but… 

“Why would he lie about how he got the injuries if it doesn’t matter?”  
The tapping stops and Shigaraki’s eyes snap up to Natsuo’s.  
“I didn’t think of it like that. Are you sure he lied?”  
“Pretty sure, he had this look in his eyes. And when he told you it was a hero, he didn’t hesitate, but when I asked him he said he doesn’t really remember and that it was _probably_ a hero.”  
“Maybe he only now remembered.”  
It’s curious how Shigaraki seems to be subconsciously trying to defend Envy. Apparently he cares about him even though he’s not openly showing it. Natsuo shrugs.

“Or he’s lying and hiding something.”

The villain pinches the bridge of his nose, three remaining fingers splayed out.  
“Maybe. Or he was just in shock when he was with you. Maybe he still is. He’s young…”  
Natsuo knows he has to be careful not to cross any lines and be killed on the spot, needed or not, but he can’t help but push the matter a little. It’s the little brother instinct, to tease people about everything and be a little shit (nevermind that he’s not the youngest, he still has those instincts).  
“You’re really fond of him, aren’t you? I think with everyone else you’d accuse them of lying and spying and betraying you. But with Envy you try really hard to find an explanation that doesn’t incriminate him.”

Shigaraki seems taken aback by his boldness as he stares at Natsuo who grins a little even though his body is tense, ready to flee if he has to.  
But then the villain slumps down..  
“I don’t think he’s betraying us. He doesn’t have anybody else. There’s nobody to betray us to. I’ve seen what his family did to him. He wouldn’t go back to them.”  
“Oh…”  
Natsuo’s grin slips and he chews on his lip.  
“I saw a lot of old scars and newer ones when I bandaged him…”  
“We’re his family now. He won’t betray us. So if he lied about his injuries, I won’t ask because he’ll have his reasons.”  
“You’re soft on him,” Natsuo remarks smiling. Before Shigaraki can reply, he walks up to him and holds out the bag he’s been carrying. Now is a good time as any to get this over with.

“This is for you.” 

It’s kind of cute how the villain hops off of the desk and grabs it, pinky fingers splayed out so he doesn’t disintegrate it. He tips the bag and the contents fall to the desk.  
Natsuo waits nervously while Shigaraki studies the things: The artist gloves, the lip balm and the other lotions. The man picks up the gloves first and inspects them.  
“They should help with your quirk,” Natsuo explains hesitantly because he can’t stand the silence anymore.  
Shigaraki is frowning, and there’s a storm in his eyes when he looks back at him, and Natsuo thinks he made a mistake.  
“Why would I need help with my quirk? And what are these other things? Are you making fun of me? Is this some big joke? Did Dabi tell you to do this?”

He quickly shakes his head and raises his hands defensively.  
“No! No, I’m sorry, I should have explained better, it’s no joke!”  
The villain is still looking seriously offended and ready to dust him, so Natsuo continues.  
“I noticed whenever I was here that you have to be really careful with grabbing things, and I guess I thought that that’s a little annoying over time? Especially when you’re playing video games.”  
He gathered that the man is obsessed with games, so maybe if he focuses on that aspect he’ll understand easier.  
“You know, sometimes you just gotta grab your controller with all five fingers because a game is tense, but you always have to make sure you don’t do that.”  
Feeling more confident again because Shigaraki is looking less angry and more contemplative, he presses on.  
“I bet if you can stop worrying about dusting your controller, you can get even better at your games because you can fully focus, you know?”  
Finally, the other nods slowly.  
“That does… sound practical.”  
Natsuo beams, relieved.  
“I can help you put them on if you want.”

Instead of replying, Shigaraki hands them to him, so Natsuo carefully helps until he’s wearing them both.  
He really hopes they work otherwise he might get killed after all for getting Shigaraki’s hopes up uselessly. But they should work, he thought this through. To test it, he picks up the bag again in which he carried the things from where Shigaraki had dropped it and holds it out.

“Try it.”

Shigaraki grabs the bag, pinky out, then he slowly lowers the finger so he’s touching it with all five. It stays in one piece, no dusting.  
Natsuo smiles brightly again.  
“They work!”  
The villain seems in awe. He’s probably realising all the things he can do now without having to make sure to be extra careful. Like eating, or grabbing things, and gaming of course.  
Feeling like he definitely earned Brownie points with this gift, Natsuo decides to be a little bolder again. Well… Very bold, actually.  
Holding his breath, he takes the bag away from the other man and instead hesitantly grabs his hand.  
He bends Shigaraki’s fingers down, ignoring his “No, don’t!”, until their fingers are properly intertwined and all five of those usually so deadly fingertips are touching Natsuo’s hand - some covered by the gloves of course.  
“It works,” he reminds him quietly and squeezes gently.  
They stare at each other for a few moments, and the air is charged with something he can’t quite name.  
Eventually, Natsuo clears his throat and points at the other things.  
“The other stuff is for your skin. Again, I’m not making fun of you, I promise. I just saw that you scratch your neck a lot and have dry skin in general, so I hope that’ll help, even if it probably won’t cure your skin condition fully. I can show you how to use it.”

Shigaraki just nods, so Natsuo grabs the lip balm with one hand as the villain is tightening his grip on his other hand, probably unconsciously. He most likely never held hands like this since he got his quirk, so Natsuo won’t say anything.

He opens the lip balm with one hand, puts the cap on the desk, and twists it so it can be applied, then studies Shigaraki’s lips which are like super damn dry. Yeah, no, he can’t use the lip balm directly, he’d probably rip his skin.  
So, for lack of a better idea, he carefully rubs his pointer finger on the lip balm and then dabs the finger on Shigaraki’s lips. He has to fight to keep his face neutral because shit, this got _really_ intimate _really_ fast.  
“Tell me if my hands are too cold,” he mumbles.  
He can feel Shigaraki staring at him, and blood is slowly rising into Natsuo’s cheeks even though he tries to keep it down. He will be full on blushing any second now.  
Well, nothing he can do about this but push on.  
For the sensitive skin around the eyes, he puts the lip balm on his finger again and rubs it in carefully. Shigaraki is tracking his movements as best as he can when Natsuo’s hands are so close to him.  
When he’s done, he looks at the other stuff he brought and bites his lip.

“I need my second hand,” he mumbles. “I’ll hold your hand again afterwards.”  
The villain pulls his hand away as if he burned himself. Natsuo sighs but doesn’t say anything. The air is charged with tension, but somehow it’s not the bad kind even though he literally has his hands in a villain’s face. He’s gaining more and more confidence because Shigaraki is really letting him do this without a single complaint or threat.  
So, before the atmosphere can change to something bad suddenly, he moves on to the next step.  
He spreads ointment on the rest of Shigaraki’s face, and then hovers his hands over his neck. He’s pretty sure the scratching isn’t just dry skin, but also a disorder, and he’s worried touching him there might trigger him in some way.  
“Can I-”  
“Just get it over with.” Shigaraki’s voice is hoarse, maybe from all the touching he’s probably not used to. Natsuo feels kind of bad for possibly overwhelming him so much.

They should get this over with quickly, so, fingers as light and careful as possible, he smears the stuff on his neck and throat. As an afterthought, he uses his quirk a little, cooling his hands down as he runs them over Shigaraki’s skin.  
When Natsuo is done, he wipes his hands on his jeans and then looks at Shigaraki. His eyes seem kind of absent, so he takes his hand again, successfully snapping him back to reality.

“Just use that daily on your face and neck, the lip balm whenever your lips are dry. If it doesn’t help, I’ll get you something else.”  
“Why?” Shigaraki’s voice is less husky, but sounds kind of forced into calmness. Is he ready to murder Natsuo now? No, then he wouldn’t let him hold his hand. He relaxes again and then blinks at the random question.  
“What?”  
“Why did you get me all of this?”  
“Well… I want to help. I’m your doctor, aren’t I?”  
“That doesn’t explain the gloves.”  
“Well, they’re not expensive and I figured they might help.”

Shigaraki’s free hand moves towards his neck, so Natsuo quickly grabs that one as well.  
“I just… felt like giving you a gift I guess,” he says slowly, kind of embarrassed. “I heard from Envy that today might not be the best day for that, but I still wanted to give you this…”  
A shadow darkens the villain’s face and Natsuo thinks _Fuck, now I reminded him of his imprisoned mentor._  
“They arrested sensei… Now I have to continue without him.”  
Natsuo squeezes his hands.  
“And you’ll do great. The others trust you, they’ll follow you. It’ll be okay.”  
“Do you expect a gift too?”

The sudden topic change startles Natsuo, and he needs a moment to process the words.  
“Oh, you mean because I gave you something? No, don’t worry, I don’t need anything. It was great to use my father’s credit card for this.”  
That makes Shigaraki grin a little, Natsuo considers this a giant win, and his chest warms at the sight.  
He had to tell them all about Endeavor abusing his children and wife for them to trust him, but he doesn’t regret it. It felt good to open up and tell somebody, and even though they didn’t say it, he knows that most of the League went through something similar. They understand him.  
“You know what,” Natsuo says suddenly. “I’ll buy you groceries. I’ll get to waste my father’s money, and you can eat better. And groceries aren’t suspicious purchases, I can just say I’m feeding homeless people.”  
“You are.”  
Natsuo chuckles at the deadpan. “I guess so. I’ll do that. That sounds good. Hey, want to go grocery shopping with me?”  
Shigaraki blinks at him.  
“How?”  
“A hoodie, a wig and a facemask and nobody will recognise you.”  
“Do you have those things?”  
“I’ll buy a wig, then I do.”

The villain nods slowly.  
“Then I’ll go grocery shopping with you.”

\---------

They get groceries together three days later. Natsuo bought a brown wig for Shigaraki, and paired with the black hoodie and the grey facemask covering his mouth and nose, he’s barely recognisable anymore unless you look very closely. The lotions he got him are already slowly working too, making his face look a bit softer. Especially his lips look less catastrophic, showing him that Shigaraki is taking this seriously and actually using the stuff.  
To be fully safe and make sure nobody will recognise the villain, Kurogiri portals them to a grocery store a few cities away, and Natsuo takes Shigaraki’s hand as they enter the store. Shigaraki stiffens, and Natsuo rubs his hand with his thumb.  
“Nobody will suspect a harmless couple to actually be a wanted criminal and his doctor accomplice,” he mumbles, and slowly Shigaraki relaxes again. Natsuo gets them a shopping cart and then they’re walking through the aisles, their joined hands resting on the cart handle because it’s impossible to steer these things one-handedly.

They have a long list of things the other League members asked for, so they start in the candy aisle.  
Natsuo barely even checks the list, just throws the best candy into the cart. Shigaraki keeps holding his hand, but doesn’t help. So, he pauses after grabbing chocolate Hello Panda biscuits.  
“Hey, honey,” he says to keep up their fake dating.  
Shigaraki’s eyes snap to him, and Natsuo holds back a grin.  
“I just wanted to say Hello Panda.” He holds up the box. The other is looking very unimpressed, so Natsuo pouts. “Cause you’re my cute little panda, you know? It’s supposed to be sweet and funny.”  
Either it’s the lighting in the supermarket, or Shigaraki blushes a bit at that. It’s hard to see with the facemask. Natsuo grins and decides that his goal now is to make him blush properly. His mind is working rapidly as he checks the list for candy he missed and adds that to the cart. He needs pickup lines with the stuff they’re buying.  
His free hand grabs strawberry Pocky for Toga and he looks at Shigaraki.  
“Ever heard of the Pocky Game?”  
“No.” The villain looks suspicious. Natsuo smiles and notes for a moment that brown hair looks really nice with his red eyes. Then he shakes his head to focus.  
“Two people eat one Pocky stick until they both reach the middle and whoever pulls away first loses.”  
He winks at Shigaraki and now the other is definitely blushing.

“It sounds like a pointless game.”  
Natsuo shrugs.  
“It’s kind of fun. We should play it some time.”  
The hand in his tenses and he decides to take it a step back before he loses his job as the League doctor and his hand-holding privilege.  
“I’m just kidding,” he adds smiling and puts the candy into the cart.

The shopping cart is gradually filling, but Natsuo doesn’t mind. His father has too much money, so he’s going to spend as much of it as he can.  
Next are canned foods and dry foods like noodles and rice which they can store for a while.  
“Can you cook?” Natsuo asks curiously as he looks for the exact brand of noodles Mr. Compress wrote on the list. He has to let go of Shigaraki’s hand as he crouches down to search the lower shelves.  
“No.”  
Shigaraki doesn’t seem to be very interested in small talk, but that’s not surprising. Natsuo doesn’t mind it at all. The villain is standing close to him even though they’re not holding on to each other anymore. Finally, Natsuo finds the right noodles and grabs two packs. Then he stands up straight and puts them into the cart.  
“Can anyone in your League cook or will we have to figure it out together? I can only make a few standard meals because my sister insisted I help her in the kitchen.”  
“Kurogiri and Sako made a few meals when we had supplies.” Shigaraki’s voice is even, so he doesn’t seem to mind talking to him too much.  
“Good. What about Dabi? Can he cook?”  
He turns to look at Shigaraki who’s watching him with intense eyes. It sends a shiver down Natsuo’s back, and he grabs his hand again before he can change his mind.  
“He can’t, not to my knowledge.”  
“Okay.”

He studies their list intensely, so he doesn’t have to look at Shigaraki again. Was his question too obvious? Maybe the villain boss already suspects something since Natsuo has shown the most interest in helping Dabi with his scars when he started as their doctor. But he has their mother’s eyes while Dabi has their father’s, and they don’t really look much alike anymore, not like when they were young. So he shouldn’t suspect it.  
Maybe Shigaraki just thinks Natsuo is weird, and honestly, fair enough.

Since the villain doesn’t say anything else, they continue their way down the aisles and grab toiletries, fresh food like vegetables and fruits and bread, some frozen stuff.

In the dairy section, Natsuo throws cheese, yoghurt and pudding into the cart, and startles when he hears a quiet gasp from behind him. He turns and sees that Shigaraki is the source of it, and the reason for it is a small Yorkshire Terrier sitting at his feet, sniffing his legs.  
Natsuo looks around for its owner and when he doesn’t see anyone, he kneels down and holds out the hand to the dog. It sniffs it and then he pets it gently.  
Shigaraki is still standing next to him stiffly, and Natsuo reaches out for one of his hands, tugging.  
“Come on,” he mumbles, “you can pet it. No danger, you have the gloves, remember.”  
Hesitantly, Shigaraki crouches down next to him and offers his hand for the dog to smell. Natsuo can see that it’s shaking, and wonders if he’s scared of dogs.  
But then the villain starts to run a single finger of the animal’s head, then two, and then he’s petting the little thing with his whole hand.  
His eyes are soft, and Natsuo has to look away from him.

“Ruby!”  
Shigaraki startles, and Natsuo squeezes his hand before looking in the direction of the voice. It’s an elderly woman with a basket and she hurries towards them.  
“Oh Ruby, I told you not to jump out of the basket,” she scolds the dog before smiling at them.  
“I hope she didn’t bother you.”  
“Not at all, Ma’am,” Natsuo ensures her with a smile of his own. “She was really nice, asking us to pet her.”  
The woman chuckles and leans down to pick up the dog. Shigaraki doesn’t pull his hand away from Ruby.  
Natsuo gives the woman an apologetic smile.  
“My boyfriend loves dogs, but we can’t have one because I’m allergic,” he says smoothly and makes a point of angling himself away a bit from the dog.  
She presses a hand to her chest, pausing in her attempt to get her dog.  
“Oh I’m so sorry. Would you like to keep an eye on her while I get the rest of my groceries? Only if it works with your allergy, of course.”  
“Oh, I’m good, don’t worry, as long as I don’t cuddle her, I’m okay for a bit. Do you want to keep an eye on her, panda bear?” he asks, referring back to the nickname he called him in the candy aisle. Shigaraki glares at him a little, but then he nods and clears his throat.

“I’d love to. Thank you, Ma’am.”  
It’s weird to hear him be so polite, but the woman just nods smiling and moves down the dairy product display. She probably won’t go very far in case they try to kidnap her dog. But then again, they seem to just be an innocent - and very cute if he may say so himself - couple.  
Natsuo watches as Shigaraki keeps petting Ruby who is wagging her tail excitedly.  
“You should get a League dog,” he half-jokes.  
Shigaraki doesn’t answer.  
“I didn’t know you like dogs so much.”  
“I used to have one as a child.” Natsuo barely hears the quiet statement, and he’s pretty sure Shigaraki didn’t mean to tell him that, so he doesn’t acknowledge it verbally, just squeezes his hand that he’s still holding.

They spend the next ten minutes there on the floor, the villain petting the dog and eventually mumbling to it quietly, and Natsuo just watching him and trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

When the woman returns, Shigaraki drops Natsuo’s hand and picks up Ruby, holding her to his chest for a moment before handing her over to her owner. She smiles at them both.  
“Thank you so much for watching out for her. You should consider one of these new allergy therapies, maybe that would help,” she then says, and for a moment Natsuo is confused about what she’s talking about. He’s not allergic to anything.  
Shigaraki pokes his chest.  
“He’s actually scared of modern medicine, he doesn’t fully trust it,” he says with a completely serious voice. “But maybe I can convince him to try it for me. He’d be such a good dog dad, isn’t that right, bunny?”  
_Bunny_? Well, Natsuo guesses that that’s payback for calling him panda bear. But he remembers the lie about the allergy now and is ready to improvise with Shigaraki.  
“For you I might just do it, panda bear.”

“Oh aren’t you two the cutest?” the old lady says smiling.  
“Thank you, Ma’am, but I’m afraid we have to finish our groceries, we’re donating to the homeless,” Natsuo says with his best angel face.  
“The world needs more people like you.” She pets Ruby’s head. “I need to go now too anyways, my wife is waiting at home.”  
“It was really nice to meet you, have a wonderful day.”  
“You too.”

She walks away and Natsuo looks after her with a smile. _Her wife._ He loves meeting old gay people who are clearly happy.  
Shigaraki clears his throat and snaps him out of his thoughts.  
“We need to get milk too.”  
“Right. Nice improvising by the way, but I am definitely not scared of modern medicine.”  
The villain seems to grin under his mask, and Natsuo would love to see it.

After grabbing milk, they walk towards the checkout and pass some board games. Natsuo stops and throws two of those into their cart too, grinning at Shigaraki’s frown.

“What? It probably gets boring for the rest of the League to just watch you and Spinner play your video games all day. And I want to destroy Dabi in Monopoly when I’m visiting.”

When they’re sure they didn’t forget anything, their cart being so heavy by now that they have to stop holding hands so Natsuo can push it properly, they walk the rest of the way to the checkout.

Shigaraki gasps quietly at the price, but Natsuo pays it all with his father’s credit card without batting an eye. This was to be expected, and he was ready for it.

They push the cart through Kurogiri’s portal in an alley behind the grocery store after Shigaraki texted him, and Toga and Envy jump up from the couch when they see how full it is.  
“Woah, fuck, are you serious?” Envy asks and grabs one of the board games. “Monopoly and Clue, hell yes.”

“You didn’t need to spend so much money on us,” Kurogiri says slowly, but Natsuo waves him off.  
“Remember whose money I spent. Endeavor deserves this.”  
Dabi nods. He’s the only one who’s openly grinning. Natsuo meets his eyes and grins back. One day Dabi will tell him, he’s sure of it. One day they can be brothers again.

Shigaraki takes off the wig and the wig cap with some difficulty, then the facemask, and throws it all on the couch.  
“Everybody is helping with putting all this away or you don’t get any of the food.”

He doesn’t have to tell them twice, they all move towards the cart and work together to fill cupboards and the fridge. Natsuo smiles as he helps Mr. Compress stack cans in a low cabinet. Why didn’t he think of doing this sooner?  
His eyes meet Shigaraki’s across the room, and he smiles at him. The villain doesn’t smile back, but his eyes are kind of soft. Natsuo can’t wait for their next shopping trip together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this! Next chapter: Greed meets Eri & Denki finally tells Greed what's going on
> 
> In case you didn't read the beginning notes:  
> I gotta ask you for something very important!  
> My friend is desperately looking to buy an English copy of Banana Fish Volume 19, so if you or anyone you know owns one and is willing to sell it, please message me on Twitter @xLivesInBooks, or comment on this so we can find a way to communicate, I would really appreciate your help, thank you <3


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eri, Denki's secret and a chat with anger boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: hints on child abuse (Eri), cursing  
> tags:  
> Coming Out  
> Greed is a good dad
> 
> One day late, I'm sorry! Hope you like it

In October, the cultural festival is announced, and Greed is curious to see what 1A will be doing. Also, apparently Eri will be allowed to go to the festival, and he can’t wait to finally meet her. Aizawa has told him a lot about her, and it sounds like she really needs a stable home.

When he gets a text from Aizawa one afternoon that the girl is at the 1A dorms, visiting, he drops the mop with which he’d been cleaning a classroom and sprints across the hallway.  
In his head, he’s telling himself over and over again not to swear because Eri is a little girl who can’t learn such language, especially not from him because Aizawa would kill him.  
He reaches the dorms and slows down, patting down his shirt and tightening the knot of the overall sleeves around his waist, pretending he didn’t run all the way. When he pushes the door open and walks inside, he can hear squealing and giggling from the living room. In there, the class is crowded around Eri, talking to her and gushing over her. Aizawa is standing at the side, arms crossed, looking about to yell at everyone to back off.  
Greed decides to earn himself some Brownie points with the man and clears his throat.  
“My turn. Hello Eri, I’ve been waiting to finally meet you.”  
The girl looks at him with wide eyes and Greed kneels on the floor by the couches, smiling at her openly and softly.  
_Be kind, be sweet, be careful. She’s fucking traumatised, so don’t show her your shark teeth, don’t grin creepily, don’t curse. Don’t appear threatening. Be a fucking teddy bear, Greed._

“This is the janitor of UA, his name is Greed,” Midoriya tells her, and she nods slowly.  
Greed offers her a hand.  
“Don’t worry, I promise I’m really nice,” he says and she hops off of the couch where she’s been sitting between Yaomomo and Midoriya, and walks the two steps to him, taking his hand.  
He shakes her hand lightly.  
“Very nice to meet you. Your hair is really beautiful, Eri.”  
Her lips twitch, but she doesn’t smile. It doesn’t bother Greed at all. He squeezes her hand gently and then lets go.  
“How do you like UA so far?”  
She doesn’t reply, and he wonders if he’s still too scary. He’s trying his best, but maybe he just can’t smile in a non-threatening way. Or maybe male adults just scare her in general. He wouldn’t blame her.  
The girl turns around and walks to the blond third year kid whose name Greed can’t remember.

Admitting defeat, and feeling a little disappointed, Greed gets up and walks over to Aizawa.  
“She needs some time to trust adults she doesn’t know,” the teacher tells him quietly. “You were really considerate.”  
Greed smirks at him.  
“Thanks, I tried my best.”  
“We’ll show Eri the rest of the school, sensei,” Midoriya interrupts them, and Aizawa nods.  
“I’ll come with you.”

Greed pouts. He thought maybe he could hang out with Aizawa for a bit, but he understands why he’s being overly careful, so he just brushes their hands together briefly and then watches him go.

Before he can decide whether he wants to take a break or return to work, Denki grabs his arm and looks up at him, seemingly nervous.  
“Can we talk? Or do you still have work to do?”  
Well, that makes the decision easy for him.  
“No, we can talk. Want to go outside for some privacy or do it in here?”  
“Outside.”

Denki keeps holding on to his arm as they walk out of the dorm building, and Greed lets him. They sit in the grass next to each other and he stays silent, giving Denki time to figure out how to say what he wants to say.  
“I have a boyfriend,” Denki says finally, and Greed perks up. It can’t be Katsuki because he would have told him. Right? Well, maybe they wanted to keep it secret for a bit-  
“It’s Hanta Sero.”  
“Tape elbows?”  
Denki snorts and kicks Greed’s leg lightly.  
“Stop being like Katsuki. But yes, him.”  
“I’m really happy for you, kid.”  
Poor Katsuki. But then again, he was blushy around Sero too, so maybe… Well, he’ll talk to him later, ask how he’s doing with this development.  
“Thanks.” Denki smiles, but he looks nervous.

Greed raises an eyebrow.  
“There’s more, isn’t there?”  
The kid nods and rubs his neck.  
“It’s about… what I’ve been struggling with for a while now.”  
That makes Greed kind of nervous too because it has to be something big for Denki to have waited so long to tell him.  
“I told a few people already, and I’m ready to tell you too. I… I know you’ll probably accept it. You’re super cool about me being bi, about Ling and Kat being gay, and you’re queer too. I mean… You’ll probably support me, but…”  
Denki taps his foot on the ground rapidly, and Greed offers him his hand. The kid takes it and holds on tightly.  
“Whatever it is,” Greed says gently, “Of course I’ll support you.”  
He has a feeling he knows in what direction this is going, but he’ll wait for Denki to tell him.

The kid breathes deeply for a bit, then nods.  
“Okay. Here it goes. I…” Another deep breath. Greed squeezes Denki’s hand in support. “You know how Mic goes by they/them pronouns and identifies as non-binary?”  
Greed nods. Aizawa told him about that when he accidentally misgendered Mic once because he didn’t know. Apparently they’re very public about it, and it’s mainly because Greed never really bothered to learn about heroes before that he didn’t know about that.

“I’m also non-binary. I think. Like… I thought about it a lot. And… I’m pretty sure.”  
Denki rubs their face with their free hand and then looks at Greed nervously.  
“What pronouns do you want me to use?”  
“They and them. But he is okay too. I think. Like, I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it.”  
“But you’re more comfortable with they?”  
They nod quickly and Greed ruffles Denki’s hair.  
“Awesome. I love you, kid. And I fully support you.”

Denki sniffles and Greed pulls them into a hug.  
“Any other issues so far? Do you want a haircut? New clothes? I want you to be comfortable. Is your name still okay?”  
The kid pulls back and smiles at Greed so brightly, it warms his heart.  
“You’re amazing.”  
Greed chuckles and pokes their cheek.  
“I know, but that doesn't answer my questions.”  
“Well… I’m fine with my hair and name, really.”

He waits for them to continue, and when they don’t, he gets up and offers Denki his hand.  
“Let’s go, I just need to grab my jacket from my office.”  
“What? Go where?”  
“Getting you some new clothes.”  
“I didn’t say I need new ones.”  
“But you weren’t denying it either. Come on, we have enough money for a few pieces. Should I look online what’s considered gender neutral clothes?”  
Denki laughs, seeming surprised by Greed’s enthusiasm, and takes his hand, letting him pull them up.  
Greed has been worrying about what’s on Denki’s mind for weeks now, and he finally knows and has a possibility to help, so he will do so as best as possible.

“No, it’s okay. It doesn’t have to be gender neutral, I think I actually want some… more feminine clothes. So when I wear them people are confused if I’m a girl because of the clothes or a boy because of like my hair and my body, but surprise, I’m neither, you know?”  
Greed doesn’t fully understand, but he supports it.  
“Alright, let’s do exactly that.”  
“Do we have the money for new clothes?”  
“I told you we do, come on. Unless you have other plans today?”  
They shake their head and let Greed pull them along towards his office for his jacket and wallet.

\----

Greed talks to Katsuki a few days later. He sits down with him in his office during a break and they both sip chocolate milk that Greed got them from the vending machine.

“So, Denki told me the news.”  
“Yeah…”  
“How are you doing?”  
Katsuki doesn’t look at him, fully focused on the carton in his hand.  
“Fine.”  
“Kid, don’t lie to me. I know you like Denki, remember? And now they’re dating someone else.”  
“I’m fine,” Katsuki snaps and glares around the straw in his mouth.  
Greed rubs his face and puts his own milk down next to where Katsuki is sitting on his desk.  
“It’s okay if you’re not fine.”

He groans and kicks at Greed’s chest.  
“You’re insufferable when you’re being the supportive parent.”  
Way too soft with the kids, Greed doesn’t say anything about the kicking, and just waits silently.  
“Fuck, fine. I’m not fine. Especially cause I fucking like tape face too.”  
He suspected it, but hearing Katsuki admit it is something else.  
“Oh honey,” he says with a sympathetic smile.  
The kid kicks him again.  
“Don’t call me that. It’s fine. I’ll just forget about it.”  
“You’re experiencing double heartbreak, come on, give me a hug.”  
Spreading his arms, Greed gets up from his chair so he’s in comfortable hug reach.  
Katsuki sighs but wraps his arms around him.  
Greed pats his hair.  
“Metal arm said there’s still a chance they might both like me too and all three of us could date…”  
“You talked to Ed about this?”  
The boy groans loudly and then, a little quieter, says:  
“Ed and I are kind of… really good friends actually…”  
“Huh.”

That’s something Greed did not see coming, but it kind of makes sense.  
Katsuki pulls back and sips chocolate milk again.  
“He’s right though. How about you ask them to dress up together for the Halloween party?”  
“Halloween party?”  
Greed bites his lip.  
“Fuck, I spilled it too soon. Don’t tell Aizawa!”  
“Only if you explain!”  
“Fine. Aizawa said that Mic and Midnight convinced him, Nedzu and the other teachers to let you all have a big Halloween party in the gym because of everything that happened this year.”  
Katsuki nods slowly.  
“How do I ask them to go there with me?”  
Greed smirks.  
“You want to learn how to flirt from me?”  
“No, your flirting is fucking awful. Just tell me how to bring it up with them.”  
Mouth open, Greed stares at Katsuki.  
“Excuse me? My flirting isn’t that bad!”  
“It is, otherwise you and Aizawa would be making out in your office every lunch break already.”

Not wanting to explain that they’re not doing that because Greed is terrified of feelings, he just shakes his head.  
“You’re a little brat. Alright, listen up. Don’t ask them until the party is officially announced unless you want to be responsible for Aizawa killing me. Find a costume that requires three people and then ask them if they want to dress up with you. Maybe you find a meme costume, Denki would love that.”  
“Sero too… Fine. Okay. Thanks I guess.”  
“See? I’m not awful at this.”  
“That’s not flirting, old man.”  
Katsuki hops off the desk and grabs Greed’s chocolate milk.  
“Hey, that’s mine.”  
“Not anymore.”  
The kid flips him off and then leaves the office. Greed looks after him, smiling lightly. He loves the little bastard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was it! I'd love feedback 🥺
> 
> A few notes:  
> This won't be the only interaction between Greed and Eri, don't worry, it was just the first, and I think considering Eri's childhood it makes sense that she'd be nervous around adults, especially men, until she learns that she can trust them
> 
> Denki finally came out as non-binary! I would've mentioned Mic being nb earlier, but it never fit, so I hope you forgive me!  
> But yes, this is what's been on Denki's mind whenever they were absent or distracted, and they finally felt comfortable enough with themself to tell Greed 🥰
> 
> PLEASE if I ever write smth offensive on accident or screw up pronouns and miss it when beta reading, please scream at me!!  
> I ask my enby friend about certain scenes, but they're only one nb person, so please, if smth comes across as offensive, tell me and I'll change it because I don't want to accidentally hurt anybody!
> 
> I just live for nb Mic and nb Denki, so of course I had to add that 🤭
> 
> Next chapter: More Monoma! And Monoma interacting with Greed's kids
> 
> (I'm very excited for the Halloween chapter on the 20th, sadly I couldn't push it around and upload it on actual Halloween, but I think that's okay)


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monoma, Ed and the Greed family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: hint on canon past trauma (Katsuki), hint on ptsd, light panicking, mention of child neglect, cursing  
> tags:  
> Referenced Child Neglect  
> Monoma and Katsuki are equally bad at feelings and communicating  
> kids make mistakes, don't hate them for it  
> Introverted Bakugou Katsuki  
> Monoma Neito needs a hug  
> Greed is soft for the kids  
> Greed is a dad
> 
> This is a long one, enjoy!  
> POV change twice in the middle but it's marked so shouldn't be confusing

The second week in October, the 1B kids have to go home over the weekend because of some pipes bursting and the whole dorms smelling awful. Also, the pipes have to be repaired.  
Greed doesn’t really think much about it since he won’t have to be the one to fix it, but an actual repairman instead.  
Until Denki approaches him Friday afternoon.  
“Hey, kid, you’re not here to tell me you changed your mind, right?”  
The kids are coming home too this weekend, for one because Ling has to anyways, and also because they wanted a family weekend at home since they were barely home since the dorm situation started.

“No no, we’re still going. It’s about Monoma, the loud blond one from class B.”  
“I know him. What about him?”  
“Well, I heard him and Ling talk, and he said he won’t go home. When Ling asked where he’ll stay, he said he doesn’t know yet, that he’ll maybe sneak into a classroom and sleep there.”  
Greed frowns and leans on his broom with which he’s been sweeping the hallway.  
“Couldn’t he sleep in your or Katsuki’s room?”  
Denki pulls a face.  
“We barely know him, I don’t want him in my room, and Kat probably neither.”  
“What about the couch?”  
“Monoma hates our class. I doubt he’ll agree to that.”  
“Class 1C then?”  
“He doesn’t know anyone in there.”

Greed sighs.  
“Denki, I can’t magically fix their dorms today. If you don’t have a better suggestion-”  
“I do.”  
“Yes?”  
“He could stay with us over the weekend, couldn’t he?”  
That’s… actually not a bad idea.  
“Yes, okay, I don’t see why not. He’d have Ling there with him who he knows, and you and Kat aren’t strangers to him even if he has prejudices because of your class. And I guess he doesn't hate me either.”  
Denki beams.  
“Okay, I’ll go tell Ling!”

They’re off without another word, and Greed grabs the broom again with a huff. He has a feeling he knows how this will end.

\----

When Greed comes home in the late afternoon, there’s arguing that he can hear from the hallway already. He sighs and unlocks the door, finding the source of the noise in the living room. He’s not surprised to see that it’s Monoma and Katsuki fighting - at least only verbally.  
Denki is leaning by the window, frowning at the two blonds that are yelling at each other.  
Greed pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath.

“Shut up!” he then yells and the two boys spin around to him surprised. “I would like to come home to a peaceful apartment, not arguing. What’s this about?”  
Katsuki crosses his arms.  
“The copycat insulted me.”  
“What did he say?”  
“That he’s not surprised that I didn’t pass the exam.”  
Greed frowns and steps to Katsuki, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
“Monoma, if you keep saying that you’ll get in big trouble with me,” he says calmly.  
“He started it,” the boy snaps.  
With a deep sigh, Greed drops on the couch.  
“Denki, you tell me what happened. Start from the beginning.”  
“Well, Monoma walked home with Ling, and Kat and me a bit behind them. And when we came home, Ling asked Monoma if it’s fine for him to sleep on the couch, and Monoma said it’s okay because he doesn’t want to share a room with a class A student anyways. Then Kat asked why he’s not at home and Monoma kind of snapped and said that that’s none of his business because he doesn’t talk to losers, and that it doesn’t surprise him that Kat failed the license exam.” 

Greed rubs his face and gets up again.

“Katsuki, you of all people should know not to ask about someone’s homelife when it’s clearly not peachy. Monoma, no comments that you know will definitely hurt.”  
They both look sufficiently scolded, and Greed turns to Denki.  
“Where’s Ling?”  
“In our room, making out with Ed. I wouldn’t go in there right now, just in case they moved on from making out.”  
Of course Ed is here. Greed shakes his head.  
“Okay, we need groceries, so go make a list of what we need. And because you two already got on my nerves, I’m sending you to the store.”  
He grins at Katsuki and Monoma, showing his teeth. They both groan but don’t argue with him. Wonderful.

**Monoma & Katsuki’s grocery trip**

Katsuki is glaring at Monoma next to him as they’re walking. He’s carrying the bag with the list and money, not trusting the copycat with either.  
“This is your fault, you had to insult my class again,” he snaps.  
“And you asked me stupid shit.”

They walk in tense silence until they reach the grocery store and Katsuki grabs a shopping cart.  
“Whatever. Family sometimes sucks, get over it.” He pushes the cart more aggressively to the dairy section of the store.  
“You ran away because yours _sucked_ so don’t tell me to get over it.”  
“You’re running away too, aren’t you? You’re not at home right now.”  
“Be quiet.”  
Katsuki stops and spins around to Monoma.  
“Don’t tell me what to do or I’ll blast your face off.”  
“Calm down or we’ll be thrown out of the store.”  
“I told you-”

Monoma slaps a hand over Katsuki’s mouth, and he takes an abrupt step back, blinking away memories of a muzzle and sludge. His heart is racing.  
“Never do that again,” he hisses icily and grabs a bottle of milk.

The other is suspiciously silent and behaved for the next few minutes. Katsuki ignores him and focuses on getting everything from the list. (He may be a little too focused, to keep himself from losing it in public. He has to keep it together, fuck.) Denki wrote down energy drinks, but when Katsuki sees the price, he pushes the cart to the other aisle and grabs some cheap chocolate instead. They’ll understand.  
“I’m sorry I touched you.”  
He freezes at the abruptness of the statement and then shrugs it off.  
“Whatever. I guess I shouldn’t have asked about your family or told you to get over it.”

When they finally got everything on the list and are waiting in the queue at the checkout, Katsuki takes out his phone and looks up popular memes to find a possible one for a Halloween costume. It also helps calm his shaking hands.  
He knows what memes are, of course, and he knows some, but he thinks they’re pretty stupid, so he’s no expert on them.  
“Are you looking at memes?” Monoma looks over his shoulder at his phone and Katsuki glares at him. But the familiar presence behind him, shielding his back, is comforting around so many people, so he doesn’t have the energy to snap at him for not respecting his privacy.  
“Yes, what do you know about that?”  
“I’m only the number one meme expert?”  
“That’s Sparky.”  
“I’ll challenge them to a duel then. But seriously, you won’t find good memes on Google, I’ll send you the best of the best if you want.”  
Katsuki frowns at him.  
“You hate me and I hate you.”  
“So? I never pass up a chance to spread memes, even if it’s to my enemy.”

He huffs and kind of wants to tell Monoma to go fuck himself, but he also does need help.  
“Do you know memes with three people in it?”  
“Weird question, but of course I do.”  
Before Monoma can tell him about them however, Katsuki sees one while he’s scrolling and clicks on it. The name of it is ‘distracted boyfriend’.  
He holds his phone closer to Monoma.  
“Is this one still funny?”  
“Well.” The boy puffs out his chest pompously, and Katsuki _really_ wants to blast his stupid face off. “It’s a little dated, but I’d call it a timeless classic.”  
“So it’s still funny?”  
Monoma looks disappointed in him. He doesn’t care.  
“Yes, it’s _still funny_ , you oaf.”

Katsuki glares at him and puts his phone away to place the groceries on the conveyor belt.  
“What do you need a meme with three people for anyway? That’s such a strange specific thing.”  
“Leave me the fuck alone, that’s none of your business.”  
“But you made me curious now.”  
Monoma doesn’t help him put the groceries back into the cart after they’re scanned and Katsuki is definitely going to tell Greed that he’s a fucking asshole for making him go shopping with this lazy bastard.  
He pays and then pushes the cart outside and starts putting all the shit into the cloth bags he brought.  
Without waiting for him to protest, he shoves two full ones into Monoma’s hands.  
“Help me, you fucking extra.”  
Monoma rolls his eyes but holds the bags.  
“You’re insufferable.”  
“I’ll fucking show you insufferable if you don’t leave me alone.”

\---- -

Back at the apartment, Katsuki drops the bags, washes his hands and then storms into his room, slamming the door shut. He ignores Greed calling after him to help put the shit away and walks straight to the window, opening it fully.  
Too many people, Monoma’s hand on his mouth, and his annoying personality made him feel uncomfortable, and he just needs a moment to breathe. The cool autumn air blows through his hair and he watches cars drive by on the street. In the distance he can hear Monoma and Greed talking, in the room next door Ed and Ling are quietly laughing together. He wonders if he can have that too…  
The door opens and he flinches and spins around, not wanting someone to approach him from behind right now. It’s Denki. They close the door behind themself and lean against the windowsill next to him.  
“Monoma said he didn’t mean to make you actually uncomfortable.”  
“It’s not just that,” Katsuki snaps. “I just need to be alone for a bit.”  
Denki sighs and pushes away from the window.  
“Okay, I’ll go.”  
“No,” he says quickly, turning his head. “Stay.”  
“Oh, are you sure?”  
“Of course I’m fucking sure,” he snaps, embarrassed. “You’re okay to hang around I guess. Not fucking draining like that blond asshole.”  
The smile the other smiles at that makes Katsuki’s heart stutter. Denki leans back next to him.  
“Okay, then I’m staying.”

**Greed**

Greed sighs as he looks at Monoma’s guilty face while Denki leaves the kitchen and walks to Katsuki’s room.  
“It’s alright, kid, it happens. You didn’t think about it.”  
“I didn’t mean to trigger him. I’m not actually trying to hurt the class A idiots.”  
With a nod, Greed steps forward and puts his hand on Monoma’s shoulder.  
“I know. And Katsuki knows too. You said you apologised and he accepted.”  
“But now he stormed off-”  
“Katsuki is really introverted, it probably all piled on top of each other today so he needs some time to calm down. You can apologise again later, but nobody is mad with you, I promise.”  
“Sparky looked mad.” Monoma is still averting Greed’s gaze, so he squeezes his shoulder gently.  
“They’re just worried. Come on, help me stow away groceries, okay?”

They work in silence, Monoma mostly just handing Greed things from the bags since he doesn’t know where to put what. When they’re almost done, the kid’s hand hovers in the air, holding an egg carton.  
“Monoma?” Greed asks frowning, and the boy snaps out of it.  
“Are you sending me home?”  
“No, of course not.” His voice is firm. “I don’t know why you don’t want to go there, but you can stay here for as long as you need. Here’s a safe space.”  
He takes the carton from his hand and puts it into the fridge. When the last bag is empty, he walks to the sink.

“I’m making tea for everyone. Can you fetch the one you and Katsuki bought?”

While he fills the kettle, Monoma grabs the tea from the cabinet and hands it to him. Then they stand in silence side by side in the small kitchen, watching the steam start to rise from the kettle as the water boils.  
They don’t talk until Greed fills six mugs and hands two to Monoma.  
“Go bring these to Denki and Katsuki, I’ll risk going to the love birds. I just hope they’re fully clothed.”

Monoma nods, still uncharacteristically silent. Maybe he’s scared of being sent home despite Greed’s reassurance. He’ll finally ask him about his home life once he delivered this tea.

Since his hands are full, he knocks on the door with his foot.  
“I got tea, you better open the door dressed, or Ed is banned from this apartment,” he calls. There’s shuffling and then the door opens to Ling. His hair is open and messy, his face red, but he’s wearing clothes, so Greed won’t say anything.  
He holds out the mugs.  
“Here.”  
Ling smiles at him.  
“Thanks, we’ll come out later, okay?”  
“Take your time, I want to talk to Monoma alone anyways.”  
“Okay. Oh, and Greed?”  
He looks at Ling expectantly.  
“Thanks for being so cool about Ed being here and the door being closed and all.”  
Greed raises an eyebrow.  
“Oh don’t worry, the talk will follow, just not today. It’s been a long day. And for now I trust you to know to behave and to be safe.”  
Ling is grimacing now.  
“Oh come on, we know this shit, we don’t need a talk!”  
“It’s part of parenthood and awfully uncomfortable for all parties involved. It’ll happen. Now go drink your tea and keep smooching the blond brat.”

He doesn’t wait for Ling to answer again but just turns around and returns to the kitchen to grab his and Monoma’s mug and move to the living room.  
The kid joins him a minute later and sits on the couch next to him, accepting the tea.  
“Did you apologise again?”  
He nods.  
“Did he accept?”  
“He told me that I should _shut the fuck up_ because I already _fucking apologised enough_ and it’s not like he _can’t handle shit_.”  
“Don’t worry, that means he doesn’t blame you.”  
Monoma snorts surprised.  
“Really?”  
“Yes, trust me. I speak that kid’s language by now.”

They sit in silence for a bit, then Greed turns to face Monoma, holding his mug in both hands to warm them.  
“I think we should finally talk.”  
“We talked a lot the past weeks didn’t we?” Monoma is grinning, but underneath there’s nervosity that Greed can clearly see.  
“But only about your quirk and your classmates. About school and the dorms and becoming a hero. You conveniently changed the topic whenever it got close to your family. So what’s going on?”

He can see the moment Monoma is pulling his defensive walls up. There’s a sneer on his face and fake arrogance in his eyes.  
“You think I have a bad family situation and need to be saved like your kids?” he asks, sounding almost amused. Greed can easily see behind the act. He puts his half empty mug on the floor next to the couch and then crosses his legs underneath himself.  
“I think you have a bad family situation, yes. But I don’t have a saviour complex. If you don’t want me to help, I won’t. But I’m listening, so please finally tell me what’s going on.”  
“So if you know what’s wrong you’ll just let me keep going home?” Monoma drawls.  
“If you want that, yes. But you’re always welcome here instead.”

For a long time neither of them says anything. Greed grabs his mug again and finishes his tea, then puts it back down. His legs are starting to cramp so he changes seating position, one leg off the couch and one on it.  
Finally, when his by now pretty well practiced patience is running out, Monoma puts his own cup on the floor and intertwines his hands in his lap, staring at them.

“They don’t hit me, they don’t yell at me, they don’t make me feel unsafe,” he starts. Greed doesn’t interrupt and decides to look across the room to the window to give Monoma some metaphorical space to make it easier to open up.  
He continues after a moment.  
“My parents have a lot of money and are pretty busy all the time, with work and meeting friends and going to dinner parties and all that… So they never really cared much about me, my nanny raised me until I was old enough not to need one anymore and she was fired. A new one then took over raising my sisters. I have two, they’re twins, eight, and… Well, we’re not close. I tried, you know? I read to them a lot and played with them, but they had their nanny and especially each other, so when Kan sensei came to our house and told my parents about the dorms, they agreed immediately. It wouldn’t make a difference for them anyways.”  
Monoma pauses and Greed looks over at him briefly, seeing him rub his eyes.

“And my sisters… They were kind of sad, but they forgot about it almost immediately again because they don’t really need me after all, never really have… They all showed me that they don’t care enough about me to miss me… That was the day you met me on the stairs.”

The puzzle pieces fall into place, and it all makes sense now. Why Monoma was sitting on the stairs looking sad, why he didn’t want to talk about the dorms. But also why he’s so defensive over his class. He’s a big brother but could never really live that role at home, so he’s the big brother for his class, protecting them from those who don’t want to see their potential or underestimate them because they’re not class A.

Greed sighs. Monoma takes it the wrong way.

“I know it’s nothing. Ling told me about his siblings. I saw Sparky’s scars. And explosion guy is too angry not to have learned it from someone. They needed your help because they were hurting. I just… need to get over myself.”  
“You’re hurting too, even if not physically. You feel neglected.”  
Monoma crosses his arms and doesn’t reply. Greed thinks it all over for a moment to find the right words. It’s difficult sometimes to say what you mean without risking the other person misunderstanding.

“You… are really starved for attention I think. You told me the same stories a few times when you visited me in my office, just so you could keep talking and I’d continue to listen to you.”  
The kid looks really embarrassed.  
“I hoped you wouldn’t notice that because I changed them slightly,” he admits quietly.  
“I noticed, but I didn’t mind. Look, I don’t know how to properly say this, so I’m just going to say it as best as I can. It’s okay to want attention because your parents have neglected you. Don’t think for one moment that your problems are worth less than for example Ling’s. Yes, his situation was different, and objectively maybe worse than yours, but you suffered just as much as he did.”  
Monoma seems to want to interrupt, but Greed doesn’t let him.  
“You were really hurt when they didn’t care about the dorm situation, and you had every right to be. They clearly don’t see the amazing young man they have in their family, and I feel sorry for them. Cause I got to know you, kid. Even though you kept telling the same stories, or maybe because of that. And I know you’ll make us all proud in the future.”

The boy’s lower lip is trembling, and Greed opens his arms.

“I know you probably didn’t hear it a lot, so I’ll say it as much as I can: I’m so proud of you for who you’re becoming.”  
Monoma doesn’t reply, he seems to still be fighting tears, but he leans closer, so Greed hugs him gently and holds him while he regains his composure.  
“I’m proud of you. For opening up to me and trusting me. For realising your mistake and apologising to Katsuki. For being so strong even though you have no support from home.”  
“Stop,” Monoma whispers and Greed can feel his shirt getting wet at the shoulder the kid is pressing his face against. He doesn’t mention it, just holds him and shuts up to give him time.

When he lets him go again a bit later, Monoma wipes his eyes hastily with his shirt and Greed gives him a little smile.  
“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “Sometimes we all need a little cry.”  
He strokes the kid’s hair.  
“If you want, you can stay here. Permanently. You’ll have to room with Katsuki, or we talk to Ling and Denki, but it’ll work out, okay?”  
Monoma clears his throat and sits up a little straighter.  
“I’ll have to think about it. I would however prefer not to share a room with the one who’s most likely to kill me.”  
Greed chuckles.  
“We’ll figure something out, okay? You’re not alone. And I’ll give you all the attention and praise you need. Promise.”  
That makes the kid smile honestly for a second before he’s grinning again.  
“But you’ll have to tell murder boy that he has a new brother and that he’s not allowed to kill him.”  
Greed grins too.  
“Fine, when you decide to join the family I’ll tell him.”

\-----

The rest of the weekend is surprisingly quiet. On Saturday they go to the park and get ice cream, in the evening they play Monopoly and even though it does get quite heated, nobody kills each other.

“I saw you swipe money from the bank!” Ed is yelling. Katsuki’s palms are crackling.  
“I’m no thief, metal arm!”  
“Just pay me my money,” Monoma says calmly, and both Ed and Katsuki tell him to shut up.  
Greed clears his throat.  
“Edward, I appreciate your concern, but I’m the bank, and nobody steals from me, so just leave Katsuki alone, okay? He didn’t take any money.”  
Ed glares at him but leans back on his hands.  
“Fine.”

They’re all sitting on the floor of the living room, and Denki is asleep with their head on Ling’s thighs because it’s way past midnight. The game is really dragging, but nobody is willing to stop now. Especially Ed, Katsuki and Monoma are determined to win, and Greed would usually be too, but he’s too content to be so domestic with the kids.  
His eyes meet Ling’s over the board game and he smiles a little. The kid smiles back and strokes Denki’s hair.

Katsuki pays Monoma the money he owes him and then the game finally continues. How Denki can sleep through their arguing is a mystery, but then again they’re all used to loud volumes in this family. He just hopes they didn’t wake any neighbours. He doesn’t want to be kicked out of this place.  
The rest of the game is a little more quiet, though there are a lot of death glares and threats and Greed has to break up a fight between Ed and Monoma that almost gets physical. Then after what feels like days, Katsuki wins the game, and his grin is unbelievably smug. Ed hits him with his metal hand on the head lightly and Katsuki punches him in the stomach.  
Before Greed can intervene, Ed pokes Katsuki’s chest.  
“Good game, _bro_.”  
Katsuki rolls his eyes dramatically and then smirks.  
“You too.”

Right, they’re apparently really good friends according to Katsuki. And Greed can finally see it now, how they are rough with each other but there’s still kind words and hidden smiles. He claps his hands.  
“Alright, time for sleep, it’s way too late.”  
“We can sleep in tomorrow,” Ling reminds him and looks at Denki in his lap. “What do I do with them?”  
“Don’t worry, I’ll carry them,” Greed says and gets up. “Winner puts the game back into the box.”  
Katsuki frowns.  
“Sounds like something the loser should do.”  
“Considering the one who lost all money first has been asleep for two hours, we’re changing the rules,” Greed deadpans and leans down, gently scooping up Denki in his arms.

“Ed and Monoma can help you.”  
“I have to use the bathroom,” Monoma says and vanishes down the hall as quick as a cat. Ed sighs deeply.  
“Fine, I’ll help because I’m your best friend.”  
“Kirishima is my best friend.”  
“Okay, changed my mind, have fun tidying alone.”  
Greed snorts and makes sure he’s holding Denki securely, then he makes his way to their and Ling’s room, Ling following him.  
“Fucking fine, both you and Kirishima are my best friends. Happy now?”  
“Okay, I can live with that.”  
“Then fucking help me.”

Ling opens the door for him and Greed walks over to Denki’s bed, carefully putting the kid down. They mumble in their sleep and turn, but don’t wake up.  
Greed smiles down at them for a moment before pulling the blanket around them properly and stroking their hair lightly.  
“Good night,” he whispers.  
Then he turns around and sees Ling watching him from his bed. Greed raises an eyebrow questioning.  
Ling shrugs.  
“You’re just… Really good at all this. We’re all really happy here with you. And I’m glad that you let Neito come.”  
“First-name basis, huh?”  
“Yes, I guess. He’s fun to talk to, especially about memes and stuff. And our quirks are similar.”  
“I’m glad you get along.”  
Ling yawns and Greed chuckles.  
“Alright, bed time. And you and Ed sleep now too, okay? It’s late.”

An amused expression spreads on Ling’s face.  
“Yes, dad.”  
Greed huffs.  
“Give your old man a hug then, brat.”  
“You’re not that old. Just a little.”  
“Gee, kid, I feel so much better already,” he jokes and opens his arms. Ling throws himself at him and he stumbles a bit as he catches him. “Goodnight, idiot.”  
“Goodnight, mid-twenties man.”  
“That’s complicated to say, just do it like Katsuki and keep calling me old.”  
Ling’s quiet laugh is interrupted by another yawn, so Greed presses a light kiss to the top of his head and then pulls back.  
“Sleep. Your boyfriend should be here soon too.”  
“Fine. Night.”  
“Goodnight.”

He waits until the kid is under the blanket, then he turns off the light and leaves the room. He almost runs into Ed.  
The boy grins at him.  
“Good game, old man.”  
Greed pinches the bridge of his nose.  
“I should start calling you all toddlers as revenge.”  
Ed just laughs and walks into the room, closing the door behind himself.

After checking on Katsuki and making sure he’s doing okay alone in his room - he is a little pale but insists it’s just because he’s tired - Greed walks into the living room and turns the couch into an acceptable sleeping place for Monoma again. The kid emerges from the bathroom in sleepwear just in time and lies down on the couch.  
“Goodnight. And think about my offer. You’re always welcome here.”  
“Okay thank you. Good night.”

\-----

Greed is woken in the middle of the night - considering when they went to sleep he’s only been asleep for maybe two hours - by someone shaking his shoulder. He startles and his shield starts rising on instinct, then he recognises Katsuki in the dark and relaxes.  
He doesn’t even ask, just shifts to the side and lifts the blanket. The kid climbs into bed with him and curls up.  
Maybe he should ask Aizawa if the school provides therapists for the students who suffer from villain-induced trauma…  
To make sure he’s okay, Greed forces himself to stay awake until Katsuki’s breathing calms and he’s asleep.  
If the kid wasn't so stubborn he would ask Denki or Ling if one of them switches rooms with him so he's not alone at night, but well… It's Katsuki. So that probably won't happen.  
He doesn't mind too much, he just wonders how he's doing at the dorms…

Once Greed is sure that the kid is really sleeping, he allows his eyes to close, and falls into the land of dreams as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... How do you like it?  
> I love soft dad!Greed, and he has truly become soft since first meeting Ling 8 months ago  
> He's come a long way 🥺💕
> 
> Next chapter, a side story chapter:  
> Midoriya meets some interesting people All Might knows, and we learn about someone... Someone you probably were curious about for a while now
> 
> PS: I know Ling could've just stayed with Katsuki or Denki in the 1A dorms for the weekend, and that Monoma probably could've survived three nights on the 1A couch, but come on, Found Family bonding!! Fanfic doesn't always have to be realistic, and isn't that beautiful ✨💕


	36. Izuku hangs out with the missing organs & himbo squad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of blood & light gore (missing arm & organs, not described and in the past)

Mid October, a little while after Eri’s rescue, All Might calls Izuku into his office.  
He’s kind of nervous, wondering what the former hero would want from him.  
After knocking, he hears the “Come in” and enters the room, closing the door behind himself. All Might is standing by the window in his powered down form, and it reminds him of the time he told Izuku about All For One.

“Young Midoriya, thank you for coming here so quickly. Sit.”  
Izuku falls down on the couch and looks at All Might expectantly.  
“I’ve been thinking that I should introduce you to some more people I know, in particular one quite unknown former hero who might be able to give you some advice for your journey.”  
He perks up curiously.  
“Who is it?”  
“She hasn’t worked actively as a hero in years, since one particular fight, but she will tell you all about this herself. Would you be free tomorrow afternoon?”  
Excited, Izuku nods quickly.  
“I am.”  
“Meet me here after your classes then.”  
“I will!”

\--

They take the train the next afternoon, and Izuku watches the outside world fly past, trying to figure out which former hero they’re meeting. He did some research yesterday after their talk on female heroes who quit after a big fight, but he couldn’t find any reliable records.  
When they finally reach the right stop, Izuku follows All Might, buzzing with excitement.  
They walk for a while, away from the city and towards a house in front of a meadow. There’s a large sign on the front that says MEAT, so it’s probably a butcher shop.  
All Might walks up to the door, so that has to be where the hero lives.

“Izumi, are you home?” All Might calls, voice booming, and a large muscular man steps through the doorway from the back and looks at them. Izuku shivers, wondering if they’re at the wrong address, but All Might holds out his hand and shakes the giant man’s hand.  
“Sig, it’s good to see you again.”  
“Is that you, Toshi?” a voice asks, and then a woman appears behind Sig, wearing an apron and a smile.  
She walks up to All Might and gives him a hug.  
“It’s good to see you again. You didn’t visit in quite a while.”  
“I’ve been busy.”  
The woman who has to be Izumi, looks at Izuku then and raises an eyebrow.  
“Who’s the small one?”  
“This is Izuku Midoriya, he’s a hero student at UA.”  
A shadow crosses her face, and Izuku shrinks back a little. There’s something about her that makes her seem scary, scarier than her giant… husband?  
“Young Midoriya, this is Izumi Curtis and her husband Sig Curtis.”  
Curtis. Izumi Curtis. Izuku’s eyes widen.  
“You’re Boulder! You were amazing, but never really let people praise you for your success, but then you suddenly vanished from the public! People thought you maybe had a child and never returned to hero work!”  
Izumi sighs and presses a hand to her stomach.  
“That’s not exactly what happened. Why don’t we sit down and drink some tea?”  
Izuku looks at All Might who nods, face sad. Something awful must have happened for her to stop being a hero, he’s sure.

\--

_Izumi Curtis, hero name Boulder, quirk: Rock bending. She can shape and move rocks with her mind freely. Heavier, bigger rocks take more concentration and will eventually cause a horrible headache and nosebleed, and in the worst case unconsciousness._

Izuku is watching Boulder- Izumi with curious eyes, holding on to the teacup in his hands. She leans back on the couch and sighs. Her husband left to keep an eye on the shop. All Might is sipping his own tea, sitting in an armchair, looking relaxed. Izuku is on the second armchair.

“So, you brought him here for what reason exactly?” the woman asks.  
All Might rubs his neck with his free hand.  
“I thought he might benefit from hearing different hero stories and meeting someone as strong and talented as you.”  
“How is he hurting himself?”  
Izuku almost chokes on the gulp of tea he decided to drink at that moment. He opens his mouth to ask what she means, but All Might is already answering her question.

“He can’t really use his hands for fighting anymore and had to switch to using mainly his legs.”  
Izumi sighs and gets up, kneeling in front of Izuku, where she takes his hands, inspecting the scars. He freezes up and watches her nervously, uncomfortable with the unprompted touching.  
She drops his hands again before he can ask her to, and looks at him.  
“Let me tell you about the last big fight I was in and what it cost me and a young boy I know. I think Toshi wants you to understand that even if you lose the ability to fight one way, it’s not the end. I could’ve kept being a hero if I wanted to. But I want you to understand how dangerous hero life is and that you maybe should get out before it’s too late.”  
All Might sputters indignantly, but Izumi doesn’t let him speak.  
“Let me tell my story, Toshinori,” she snaps and he falls silent. Izumi returns to her spot on the couch, and her eyes look far away as she starts speaking again.

“It was six years ago. A friend of mine, a vigilante who goes by the name Hohenheim, was in trouble because he stuck his nose into the wrong person’s business, so he asked me for help. I was at his house and we were in his office, discussing the issue, his wife and two small sons in the living room. Then someone broke in and used a shadow quirk to hold Hohenheim’s family hostage. And there was a blond bearded man in all white… I think he was trying to look like a god. He told me to step away because he has business with Hohenheim that doesn’t concern me. But he was my friend, and his family was in danger, so I didn’t listen, and the man looked me in the eyes and said that he knows what’s most important to me. The next thing I knew I was kneeling on the floor, pain exploding in my stomach area. Later the doctors told me that some of my inner organs were mysteriously gone, and my intestines in general dislocated, and I’d never be able to have a biological child.”

Izuku stares at her, chills all over his body. Without meaning to, he starts mumbling, repeating the most important info and adding his own thoughts.  
“The man said he knew what’s important to her and then made sure she could never have a child. Was a child most important to her? The possibility of being able to get one in general?”  
All Might clears his throat and Izuku’s mouth snaps closed, feeling embarrassed. But Izumi just continues speaking.

“I couldn’t get up anymore because of the pain, I could just watch as Hohenheim tried to fight the man, but he had to stop when he was reminded that his family was still hostage. And then stupid Edward, the older one of Hohenheim’s sons, wanted to help his little brother who was so scared. He tried to reach for him or use his quirk, I’m not sure. And the man looked at him and smiled, and then Ed’s arm was gone and he was bleeding and screaming. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of his screams.”

She stops, probably to regain her composure, but Izuku can only stare at his tea.  
“Edward. Ed. With a missing arm. Ling’s Ed? Is this about his father? Why did the man take his arm? Because he was reaching for his brother? Because he needs two arms to use his quirk? Why only one arm though? Why not both? Is there a pattern in this? Is it the man’s quirk that’s doing-”  
This time Izumi herself interrupts him by resuming her story.

“Hohenheim begged him to leave his family alone. His wife Trisha was trying to comfort her sons without being able to reach them. She was quirkless, so she couldn’t have helped much even if she’d tried to… And then the villain looked at Hohenheim and told him that he should have thought of his family before he started investigating him. He said he can see that his whole family is important to him, but that the one thing he couldn’t imagine living without is his wife…”

Izuku swallows. He knows where this is going.

“I will cut the end of this short. He killed Trisha, decided he warned Hohenheim enough and left again. I never saw the one with the shadows, and we’re not sure how his quirk works, just that it has to do with knowing what’s important to you and somehow being able to take it away.”  
“Ed’s arm to save his brother… Your ability to have children. Hohenheim’s wife,” Izuku mumbles, mentally taking notes and analysing it all in detail again, every information he’s been told. “He had to look at you-”  
“Midoriya,” All Might interrupts him gently. “No mumbling right now, alright? It’s been a few years ago and the villain never resurfaced. Hohenheim got in trouble with the wrong people and got what he had coming. It’s just tragic for his wife and sons…”  
Izumi frowns at All Might, seemingly angry.  
“There it is again. So you still hate everyone who goes against your precious system, huh, Toshi?”  
“Vigilantes?” Izuku asks confused, and she nods.  
“He thinks that Hohenheim’s loss is worth less than mine because he didn’t conform to the rules.”  
“I never said that, Izumi, you’re twisting my words. I don’t hate Hohenheim or vigilantes, I simply don’t agree with the way they’re handling things.”

Izuku doesn’t quite understand why All Might would have such a problem with vigilantes, but before they can argue more about it, there’s footsteps and Sig sticks his head through the doorway.  
“Alex is here.”  
Izumi gets up smiling.  
“Midoriya, you’ll like Alex, his quirk is manipulating metal.”

A man just as giant as Sig and All Might in powered up form enters the living room. He has one strand of blond hair and a beaming smile.  
“Izumi!” he calls and wraps her in a bone crushing hug that has Izuku fearing for her life.  
“You’re Armstrong!” he then realises and starts spilling every bit of knowledge he has about the man right down to his sister being a famous vigilante at the other end of the country. Nobody knows what her quirk is, but she’s feared by a lot of people.  
The man simply laughs and pats his back so strongly it knocks the breath out of Izuku.  
“You know a lot about me, but I don’t know who you are.”  
“My name is Izuku Midoriya, I came here with All Might to meet Boulder, I mean Izumi.”  
“Boulder, huh? I haven’t heard that name in a while, Izumi.”  
She smiles.  
“Me neither. I kind of missed being called that though. Excuse me while I make some more tea.”

\--

The rest of the afternoon Izuku listens to hero stories by both Izumi and Alex as he insists Izuku call him. He asks a ton of questions, and All Might keeps telling him to slow down with his curiosity, but the other heroes try to satisfy his thirst for knowledge as best as possible. Izuku has never felt so listened to by adults before. He decides that he likes those two very much and hopes he can see them again. Maybe he’ll even do a work study eventually with Alex’s agency because the man offers for him to do so when he ever wants to.  
It’s exciting to talk to two people who were and still are so famous and to have them be so incredibly nice to him.  
He last felt this excited when he first met All Might and started training with him.

Later, when he and All Might are on the train back to UA, he can’t stop talking about everything he learned today. For a while, the former hero listens and makes acknowledging sounds every now and then, but finally he kindly asks him to be quiet for a bit.  
“It’s been a long day, young Midoriya, I’m sure you understand that I’d like a little silence now.”  
“Of course,” he says quickly and smiles. “I’m sorry, All Might. I’ll just tell Shouto about this later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few crumbs about somebody's quirk, I guess you all know who it is 👀👀
> 
> Apologies to I think rinxlenfan4ever for telling you Izumi and Sig would be happy in this story, I then came up with this backstory for them, but don't worry, even without kids they are happy! Al and Ed probably spent the holidays or weekends with them a few times before they started hero school
> 
> Next chapter: Halloween 😌😏 If you want, you can guess what Greed will dress up as, or Mic, Aizawa and the students, I'm really proud of all the costumes Lee and I came up with!


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing  
> In the later chapters there will be some manga spoilers, not to the newest chapters, but still, I will warn what kind of spoilers that will be before each chapter! Decided to let you know already
> 
> A bunch of different POVs but all are marked! Thank you to my dear friend Lee for helping me come up with Halloween costumes for the characters!
> 
> Relationship Tags that are hinted on in this chapter, but not enough for me to tag it for the overall fic:  
> Aoyama/Tokoyami  
> Midoriya/Todoroki  
> Jirou/Yaomomo  
> Tags: dancing, several music references, pop culture references, cheesy, getting together, pure fluff, Bakugou Katsuki is a big brother
> 
> The Halloween Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNaiewBckcJKLdQDFsDILuI4coy_j60z2
> 
> Now enjoy this long one! 🥰

**Katsuki**

When the Halloween party is finally announced, Katsuki waits one day before he approaches Denki and Sero, phone in hand.  
“Hey, Sparky, Tape Face.” They look up from where they’ve been playing a game together on Sero’s Nintendo.  
“Yes Blasty?” Sero asks and grins. Katsuki glares at him and buries his fingernails in his palm that’s not holding the phone. He can do this. He’s going to be the number one hero, so he can ask somebody to a party.  
Not sure how else to do it, he shoves the phone in their faces with the meme open.  
“You’re dressing up with me.”  
Denki looks at him and beams.  
“A meme costume? With us? Oh Kat, I love it!”  
Sero is still grinning and nods now.  
“I’m down for it. Good meme choice, Kitty.”

Katsuki almost drops the phone and he’s sure his heart stops for a second. His face definitely feels like it’s on fire. Luckily, Denki just keeps talking, even though there’s a bright smirk on their face and they seem to be trying not to laugh.

“I want to be the girlfriend, I’ll practice my scandalised expression. Who’s going to be my boyfriend?”  
“Katsuki should do it,” Sero says and pokes Denki’s cheek. Then he looks at Katsuki thoughtfully for a moment before smiling. “And I’ll do my best to distract our kitty the whole evening.”

There it is again. Katsuki wants to lie down and pass away.  
“Don’t call me that!” he snaps, voice almost cracking at the end because of how embarrassed he is, but he saves it in the last second and does his best to glare at Sero who looks kind of smug now.  
“Why not? Denki basically calls you cat.”  
“He calls me Kat you stupid extra!”

Katsuki is reminded of Ed also calling him this weird cat nickname and saying he only hates it when he does it and wouldn’t mind Denki or Sero calling him that… Well… He does kind of not mind it, but it’s doing things to his heart, so he won’t let Sero keep doing it.

“Whatever, stop fighting. So I’m the girlfriend, Kat is my boyfriend and Hanta is the girl distracting him. Will you wear a dress or just a red shirt?”  
Sero rubs his chin.  
“I’m wearing a dress. Let’s hope you two don’t pass out when you see how good I look in it.”  
Denki chuckles.  
“I might.”

Katsuki too, but of course he doesn’t say so. He can keep a grip on himself. He won’t do anything embarrassing just because his crush will be wearing a fucking red dress and probably look amazing in it.

\---

Katsuki is nervous when he’s helping Ling with his tie.  
He’s dressing up as some cartoon character with Ed, some married fairy couple or whatever. The green paint that’s been sprayed in his hair kind of suits him.  
“Your hands are shaking,” Ling points out and Katsuki smacks him.  
“Don’t comment on it.”  
“Aww, you’re nervous aren’t you?”  
“Ling, I swear to fucking-”  
“Fine fine, I’ll stop. I’m a little nervous too.”

Katsuki finishes tying the tie and makes sure it’s not too tight, and then that the collar of the shirt is right.  
“Why would you be nervous?” he asks and moves around Ling to check on his small plastic wings.  
“Well, Ed and I never really went to a big event like this together. I hope I don’t embarrass him.”  
“Ed wouldn’t care at all, you know that.”  
Ling shrugs and Katsuki hands him the hairband with the attached paper crown.  
“I’m honestly just glad he got special permission to attend, since it’s technically a UA only event.”  
“He saved Greed’s sorry ass, so of course he’s allowed.”

Ling snorts and slaps Katsuki’s arm.  
“Don’t be so rude all the time. Let me check if your shirt is right.”  
“It’s just a plaid shirt. It’s the most boring costume ever.”  
“It’ll be funny once it’s put together,” Ling ensures him.  
Katsuki wipes his hands on his jeans, takes a deep breath and nods.  
“Okay, you done?”  
“Yep.”  
Ling grabs his wand with the star at the end and then links his arm with Katsuki’s.  
“Let’s find our dates.”

\---

When Katsuki sees Sero in that stupid red dress in the 1-A living room, his face heats up again and he looks at Ling.  
“Murder me,” he hisses.  
Ling grins.  
“He does look really hot in it. But he’s all yours and Denki’s. Go on, be distracted.”  
He shoves him towards Sero who now notices Katsuki and smiles brightly but a little shyly.  
“Hey! Be honest, how ridiculous do I look?”  
Katsuki should tell him that he looks awful and embarrassing and definitely ridiculous, but those would all be lies, and he doesn’t want to accidentally hurt Sero’s feelings.  
So, he bites his lip to keep calm and then looks at him.  
“You don’t look fucking ridiculous.”  
Sero seems relieved.  
“Really?”  
“Yes. It… It suits you.”  
Now he positively beams at him, making Katsuki feel a little weak in the knees.  
“Thanks, Kitty, you look very good too.”  
He’ll have to ask Ling to dig his grave already because he doesn’t think he’ll survive the night.

“Guys!” Denki’s voice calls and Katsuki turns around to see them skip towards them, wearing a simple light blue shirt and jeans, and a bright smile on their lips. “Hanta, you are absolutely stunning. And you look good in flannel, Kat.”  
They clap their hands.  
“Let’s practise expressions. Hanta, smile innocently, go!”  
Sero does and Denki nods pleased.  
“Okay. Kat, the _Damn, he’s hot_ expression, go!”  
Katsuki looked at the meme a lot since he’s been chosen as the distracted boyfriend part, and practised in front of the mirror. The expression is awful and stupid and hideous, but he perfected it. So, resigning himself to look embarrassing all evening, he does the fucking expression, and Denki honest to god squeals.  
“That’s perfect!”  
“Of course it’s fucking perfect. Did you doubt me, Sparky?”  
“Not one second. Okay, now me!”  
They shake their head dramatically and then shift their face to look scandalised and shocked.  
“Awesome,” Sero says grinning and rubs his hands. “Okay, are you ready to rock this party?”  
“Hell yes!” Denki smiles.  
Katsuki nods. “Yeah, whatever.”

**Greed**

Greed is already dreading the next day because he’ll have to clean the whole gym on his own. At least he’s getting a nice bonus for it. He adjusts his Catwoman mask and looks around for Aizawa.  
“Oh, I see you dressed up for Shouta.”  
He turns to Mic and inspects their costume. Their hair is falling around their shoulders in curls, they’re wearing a brown coat over what looks like a black leather tunic, brown pants and black leather boots that almost reach up to their knees. In their hands is a blue glowing… stick. And there’s a painted scar over and through their right eyebrow.  
It seems familiar and it takes Greed a moment to recognise it from the movie they watched during girls night, Star Wars 3.  
“You’re that evil guy.”  
“Excuse me, we do not accept Anakin Skywalker slander in this house. He may have been kinda bad, but not evil. The poor boy was just misguided.”  
Greed snorts.  
“Whatever. Nice costume.”  
“Thanks!”

“You two went all out, I see,” a tired voice behind them speaks up, and Greed spins around to Aizawa, smirk on his lips that wavers a bit as he sees the cat ears he’s wearing. Fuck, he’s the most adorable fucking man he’s ever seen. And somehow simultaneously very hot. Greed pokes his own cat ears and winks.  
“We’re matching.”  
Mic chuckles and then moves over to where they’ll be in charge of the music for the night. Greed leans against the wall next to Aizawa. He’s wearing a simple black stretchy jumpsuit he borrowed from Midnight and his ankle boots, so he’s enjoying the extra height he has on Aizawa again.  
The first students enter the gym and mingle around. Greed waits to see someone he knows, and when the first couple from class 1A enters, he can’t help but _coo_.  
Aizawa frowns at him but Greed presses a hand to his chest and points at Midoriya who is dressed up as Eraserhead.  
“Look! He even added the circles under your eyes and your scar.”  
Todoroki next to him is wearing a blue uniform that looks kind of military and his hair is black, either spray-painted or dyed. He’s also wearing white gloves with grey at the fingertips. Greed doesn’t recognise if he’s a hero too or some fictional character.

When there’s no reaction from the teacher next to him, Greed looks over and can see that Aizawa is trying not to get emotional. It’s adorable, so he takes his hand and pulls him along towards the two.  
“Amazing costumes, boys,” he tells them. Midoriya seems embarrassed that Aizawa is right there.  
“I wanted to dress up as someone who inspires me a lot,” Midoriya says sheepishly.  
“And that’s not All Might?” Greed asks.  
“Well, he’s my childhood hero, but since I’m at UA, I’ve been mostly looking up to Aizawa sensei. He has to deal with us and you every day, but he still stays really patient and kind and cares about all of us.”  
Greed blinks. He didn’t see that subtle roast coming, and Aizawa next to him is seriously chuckling.

“I’m flattered, problem child. And you, Todoroki? Did you like your internship that much?”  
“Midoriya asked me who inspires me, so I dressed as Roy Mustang.”  
Greed heard of that one. Father and a few of his siblings fought him once.  
“Well, you both have really nice costumes,” Greed says. “Now go have fun, but not too much fun, okay?”  
Midoriya blushes, and Todoroki just nods, then they both walk away from them.

“You inspire him more than All Might,” Greed says in a sing-song voice, and Aizawa nods slowly but doesn’t say anything.

Next they see Jirou in a red skirt and orange turtleneck with orange knee highs and Yaomomo in a pale purple dress with a green scarf and purple shoes. Greed doesn’t recognise who they’re supposed to be, but they look cute together.

Tokoyami is wearing a plague doctor mask over his head with a hat on top and black robes. Greed only knows it’s Tokoyami because Aoyama is hanging off of his arm calling out:  
“Tokoyami and I have arrived and are ready to steal the show!”  
Aoyama… hurts to look at. Literally. It feels like his eyes are melting from all the sparkles. The kid is wearing a suit and a long coat, but his button up shirt is open and he’s wearing body glitter on his chest and neck, his face is sparkling too. His suit is decorated with sparkling little stones, and yes - his theme is definitely his hero name _Can’t stop sparkling_.

“Aoyama,” he calls and the boy turns his head to him and grins, showing fake vampire teeth. “Very bright costume.”  
“Merci! I am the vampire Edward Cullen after his death and Tokoyami is my beautiful doctor.”  
Greed has no idea who Edward Cullen is, so he just shows the boy a thumbs up and watches them join some other class 1A students.

Smiling amused, Greed looks at Aizawa next to him who’s studying the crowd.  
“I thought you might bring Eri tonight.”  
“I wanted to, but then I thought all the costumes might just scare her. We’ll wait until the festival.”  
“Makes sense.”

The music starts and Greed spots Shinsou with cat ears similar to Aizawa’s, but at least the kid also drew whiskers on his face.  
“Like father like son, huh?”  
Aizawa rolls his eyes at him.

There’s a lot of different costumes here tonight, from generic ones like ghosts and vampires and zombies to ones that look like they’re supposed to be fictional characters Greed just doesn’t recognise.  
He spots Katsuki, Denki and Sero in a corner. They explained their costume to him, but he forgot again. He’s too old to understand what the kids find funny these days.  
Damn, that sounds like he’s forty and not twenty-six, but he can easily blame the way he grew up on his lack of pop culture knowledge.

He also finds Ed and Ling in the crowd in their married fairy costumes. It’s from some kids’ cartoon about a child with two fairies or something, he doesn’t remember.  
The music switches from generic music to a more fun sounding song which Mic interrupts after a few seconds to greet everybody and officially start the Halloween party. They remind everyone that alcohol and smoking as well as drugs are forbidden and will result in the person consuming them being kicked out of the party and their parents being called.

Then the music gets louder and Greed frowns, already not really enjoying this. He never went to a proper party, so this is… weird and a lot.  
He looks at Aizawa who also doesn’t seem to like the volume of everything here, but his face tells him that he’s been to more parties in his life than Greed and is used to it but doesn’t like it anyways.  
“It’s loud,” he calls and the man nods.  
“Obviously. It’s Mic in charge of the music.”  
“Still, I didn’t quite expect that.”  
Aizawa looks at him with a weird intensity in his eyes.  
“Is this your first party?”  
He just nods, wondering if that’s something he should be embarrassed about. But Aizawa just nods as well and moves his head a bit to the music.  
“You should dance,” he then yells. “Since it’s your first party.”  
“Is that an invitation?”  
“No, I don’t dance. You can ask Mic if you don’t want to do it alone.”  
Greed wants to push him, but he doesn’t. Aizawa doesn’t want to dance; that’s fine.

He makes his way over to Mic and waves at them until they notice him and grin brightly.  
“Hey! What’s up?”  
Here at the source of the music it’s even louder and Greed wonders how Mic’s ears aren’t bleeding. They seem to guess his question and hold up their hearing aids grinning. Huh, Greed didn’t know they had those, but it makes sense now how they can be at the centre of the music easily. Just taking out the hearing aids and being okay with the booming sound.  
“Wanna dance?” Greed asks, not bothering to raise his voice and dancing a little on the spot, pointing at Mic and then himself. They smile even brighter and nod excitedly. After tapping on the laptop that’s hooked to the speakers a bit, they put the hearing aids in a pocket of their pants and move over to Greed.

He grins back and holds up his pointer finger, then moves his hands to indicate their surroundings and then points at himself.  
“First party for me,” he adds, speaking with exaggerated mouth motions. Mic looks surprised for a moment, then they grab Greed’s hands.  
“Then let’s dance your first ever party dance together!” they call over the music and pull him towards the middle of the dance floor, curls bouncing.

**Ling**

Ling and Ed are dancing together to the remix of Sweater Weather, holding hands, paper crowns bobbing. Ed looks absolutely adorable with the pastel pink colour he dyed his hair.  
Ling would have dyed his hair too, but he’d have to have bleached it first and then the colour would have been permanent. Ed’s will wash out in a few days. That’s kind of sad, honestly.

“What are you thinking about?” Ed calls, pulling him closer so they can talk easier.  
“How much I love that colour on you,” Ling replies loudly and pushes a strand of hair behind Ed’s ear that escaped the braid.  
His boyfriend smiles, face turning pink.  
“I love everything about you,” he tells him directly in his ear, and Ling’s chest warms.  
“Cheesy.”  
“I know. But tonight I can be. Wanda is also kinda cheesy isn’t she? I haven’t seen it in a while.”  
“No idea. I think Cosmo is the cheesy one though.”  
“Let’s just both be cheesy, honestly.”  
Ling huffs and listens as the song changes to Electric Love by borns.  
“You’re making me hungry, stop saying cheesy.”

Ed laughs heartily and then cups Ling’s face and kisses him.  
“I love you. Let’s go grab something to drink and then we dance some more.”  
“Fine, but I want to eat something too. I wasn’t joking.”

He links their hands and smiles as Ed kisses his cheek before safely navigating them through the crowd using his metal arm to make up for what he’s lacking in height.

**Katsuki**

They actually get some compliments for their costume which means people are recognising it, and Katsuki can’t help but feel kind of smug about it since he chose it.  
Ashido takes a picture of them with the correct facial expressions and then Denki and Sero insist on dancing.  
It’s fine, it’s fast music to which they just kinda jump around to, nothing difficult. They’re not touching either, just kind of dancing in a circle - or triangle.  
Denki leaves them for a song and Sero grabs Katsuki’s hand.  
Katsuki startles and tries to pull back, but the other holds on.  
“Relax, Kitty. Come on, dance with me. Unless you really don’t want to.”  
Swallowing around the nervous lump in his throat, Katsuki nods.  
“Fine,” he snaps and lets Sero lead. It’s still mostly jumping around, but now they’re holding hands while doing so and at the end of the song Sero tells him to spin him and the dress flows with the movement.

There’s a big smile on Sero’s face, his eyes are shining and the way he’s holding himself with so much confidence, and the damn dress that really fits him nicely… Katsuki can’t stop staring at him.  
He’s interrupted by Denki returning, their grin promising that they’re planning something.  
“What did you do?” Katsuki asks suspiciously and doesn’t believe the innocent smile at all.

“This next song was requested and is for all the lovebirds out there!” Mic calls loudly and then a song starts that sounds kind of familiar.  
“Shrek 2!” Sero cheers, and Katsuki remembers when his friends made him watch the Shrek movies. This song was in the second one.

Denki grins and sings along loudly.  
“How much longer will it take to cure this! Just to cure it cause I can't ignore it if it's love, love! Makes me want to turn around and face me but I don't know nothin’ 'bout love!”

So it’s a love song. Katsuki tries to subtly disappear as this is probably just for the two who are dating, but Denki snatches his hand and dances with him like Sero did during the last song. They’re still singing, apparently they know all the words to this, and they keep pointing at Sero and Katsuki for some lines. It’s… confusing.

“Come on, come on! Move a little closer!” Denki pulls him flush against their chest and Katsuki is taken aback by their boldness. Maybe it’s the song.  
“Come on, come on! I want to hear you whisper!”  
Their faces are so close he can feel Denki’s breath on his lips while they’re singing.  
“Come on, come on! Settle down inside my love!”  
He’s not sure if he’s breathing anymore, Denki is so close, but then they move back again and let go of Katsuki, grabbing Sero by the shoulders instead and yelling the next couple lines in his face.

Katsuki’s brain can’t quite comprehend what just happened and what it means.  
Sero drapes an arm over his shoulders and he and Denki sing the repeated _Accidentally in love_ line together and then the song is finally over, and they both look at him, kind of expectantly. He doesn’t know what to say. He can’t even yell to save himself right now.  
“We’re accidentally in love,” Denki says loudly to him, but it doesn’t help.  
“Interesting fucking song,” is all Katsuki manages. Sero and Denki share a look and then each grab one of his hands and pull him to the exit.  
“Hey, where are we going?” he asks and tries to stop them, but they just ignore him and drag him along.

Outside the music is just soft background noise, and it’s actually quite nice, the quiet and the cold air.  
Katsuki frowns at the other two, still not understanding what’s going on.  
“Kat, we tried to tell you something with that song,” Denki starts.  
“Denki’s idea, I just joined in,” Sero corrects. “Take all the credit, dear.”  
“Fine, it was my idea, but we both want to tell you the same thing.”  
Slowly, a thought enters Katsuki’s mind, and he waits for them to continue, hands starting to sweat with nervosity. He channels it into tiny explosions in his palms and they help him stay focused.  
“We’re accidentally in love, Kat. With you. Both Hanta and me.”  
Katsuki blinks and his brain processes the words incredibly slowly.  
“We thought we got hints from you that you like us too, so we decided to ask you if you want to date us. Only if you want to, of course.”

Finally, the words register, and he opens his mouth to… He’s not sure.  
His mouth decides for him, spitting out a single word:  
“Yes.”

Denki beams and Sero smiles.  
“So I can keep calling you Kitty?”  
“You’re going to fucking kill me. Fine. Don’t fucking tell anybody that I allowed it.”  
“Okay, I won’t, Kitty.”  
Looking incredibly happy, Denki puts a hand on Katsuki’s cheek.  
“Can I kiss you?”  
He nods.  
“Fucking do it.”

And Denki does, and fuck, their lips are soft and warm, and their hand stays on his cheek, feeling warm and gentle. A hand presses to his back lightly and then Sero’s voice is in his ear.  
“Don’t forget to breathe.”  
Oh. Fuck. Embarrassment floods him as he realises that Sero noticed that he kind of stopped breathing out of excitement and nervosity. But he shouldn’t fucking judge him, this was his first kiss ever.  
Denki pulls back, and Sero takes Katsuki’s chin, turning him to face him.  
“My turn, if you want to.”  
Katsuki’s brain isn’t really processing this all properly, but he knows that, yes, he wants to kiss Sero too. He wants to kiss them both and never stop again.  
“Yes.”

So he’s kissed for the second time. It’s slightly different in a way Katsuki can’t describe after just one kiss, but it’s making his stomach flip just as much.  
They like him back. They kissed him. Fuck, he’s lucky.

“Are you okay?” Denki asks when Sero pulls back. “You’re very red.”  
Katsuki clears his throat.  
“Yes, of course I’m fucking okay.”  
Before Denki can ask again, Sero distracts them with a short peck on the lips.  
“Give him some time to get used to dating, you were blushing a ton for the first few days of our relationship too.”  
Denki’s face turns red and they shove Sero a little.  
“Stop embarrassing me!”

Katsuki actually thinks that that’s kind of cute. And it’s a relief that he’s not the only one who’s flustered around the people he likes.  
Sero chuckles and runs a hand through Katsuki’s hair.  
“Are you fine with us openly dating?”  
“I’m not going to fucking hide you like a coward,” he snaps. “I’ll kiss you when I want and I don’t care who’s around.”  
Denki beams and grabs Katsuki’s hand.  
“You sound possessive, I’m kind of into it.”  
“Hmm, me too,” Sero agrees and kisses Katsuki’s cheek.  
He blinks and then a grin spreads on his lips.  
“What are you so happy about suddenly?” Sero sounds mock worried.  
“Shitty Deku only has one boyfriend, but I have two idiots. I beat him again.”  
He talked to Deku a few times and apologised, and they’re on a good path again to being only civil school rivals, but he can’t help but want to be better than him anyways.

Denki starts laughing and wraps their arms around Katsuki’s waist, pressing their face against his shirt.  
Sero hums to the song that can be heard from inside the gym.  
“Want to show off your two new partners?” he then asks and holds his hand out to him.  
Katsuki grabs it.  
“Don’t embarrass me, dumbasses,” he says, voice too soft for it to be a proper insult.  
Sero detaches Denki from him and then Katsuki is walking back into the loud gym, holding the hands of his two significant others - both really hot and with useful quirks. He got _fucking lucky._

\---

After dancing some more with the two, Katsuki sees Kirishima by the tables with the food and walks over. He’s dressed in a ridiculous shark onesie. His ideas had been Crimson Riot or shark, and Denki, Ashido and Sero (should he call him Hanta now?) convinced him to dress as a shark.  
Kirishima grins, sharp teeth showing, when he sees Katsuki.  
“I saw you leave with Denki and Sero, did you finally confess?”  
“We’re dating now, yes.”  
“I’m so proud of you!” Kiri exclaims and wraps his arms around Katsuki, jumping up and down. Katsuki sighs but pats the boy’s back lightly.  
“Thanks,” he grumbles. “You’re still not mad that I told Ed about my crush on Sero before I told you, right?”  
“Of course not! Come on, let’s dance, I love this song. And later I was thinking of asking Present Mic to play Baby Shark.”  
Katsuki’s eyes narrow. “If you do that I will not only explode your stupid shark costume, Shitty Hair, but I will also not dance with you.”  
Kirishima pouts, but Katsuki doesn’t cave. He’d have that stupid song stuck in his head for days again and be ready to stab himself in the ears.  
“Fine,” Kiri finally says and grabs Katsuki’s hands. “But we dance now.”

Katsuki doesn’t protest and allows him to pull him to the middle of the gym and put his hands on his shoulders. Accepting his fate, Katsuki places his hands on Kirishima’s waist and then they’re dancing to the music, mostly just swaying to the beat, slower and faster depending on the song. While they dance, Kirishima talks about the costumes of their classmates.

“And the guy from the Mustang agency came to UA to personally deliver the uniform to Todoroki! Apparently they really like him there. He couldn’t come into the dorms because of his wheelchair, but he talked to Todoroki and Midoriya outside for a bit and Todoroki was definitely smiling and laughing! I kind of want to do a work study with the Mustang agency now because the Flame Alchemist is a really good hero, and when his sidekicks are cool like the one that brought the uniform, it would be really fun, right?”  
Katsuki nods, mostly just enjoying listening to Kirishima babble. He’s easy to be around because he’s nice and patient and kind. If he hadn’t fallen for Denki and Hanta, Katsuki could have imagined dating Kirishima.  
Another great thing about his friend is that he doesn’t expect him to reply. He can read him well enough to know when Katsuki is content to just listen, so he keeps talking about their classmates and the party while they move around.  
They come across Denki and Hanta who are dancing together again, and they wave at them and Kirishima complains that Katsuki won’t let him ask Present Mic to play Baby Shark, and then Katsuki has to verbally fight the three to be spared of the song.  
“I’ll break up if you ask for it,” he threatens. “I’m being serious!”  
“Oh you’re such a party pooper,” Denki complains and Katsuki narrows his eyes at them.  
“Fine, nobody is asking for Baby Shark. But I want to dance with Kiri now!” Denki throws their arms around Kirishima who chuckles and catches them.

“Guess you’re being replaced,” he jokes and Katsuki huffs.  
“I wanted to go grab something to drink anyways.”  
“I’ll join you, Kitty,” Hanta decides, making Katsuki’s face heat up again.  
Both Kirishima and Denki start laughing and then dance away.  
“You don’t mind the nickname, do you?” Hanta asks, more serious now.  
Katsuki crosses his arms and looks away.  
“No,” he then mumbles.  
His boyfriend grabs his hand and Katsuki looks at him, chest warming when he sees his bright smile.  
“Good. Let’s get you something to drink.”  
They intertwine fingers and Katsuki lets himself be pulled along.  
Hanta’s dress flows around his legs as they walk through the dancing students together, and he looks especially pretty in the orange and yellow lights of the Halloween decoration. Katsuki watches him from the side and has to fight a cheesy smile.  
He’s really happy tonight.

**Neito**

Neito is wearing a pirate costume. He really went all out spending his parents’ money on this. It’s complete with a corset over a white button up shirt with flowy sleeves, a pirate hat, a whole bunch of golden necklaces, black pants and leather boots, rings on both hands, and, of course, a sword. Greed didn’t allow him to buy and bring a real one, so a realistic looking fake has to do. Greed did however help him put on eyeliner, so Neito isn’t actually mad at him or anything.  
So far he’s been enjoying the evening, hanging out with his friends from his class, chatting with Ling for a bit and even being almost nice to Ling’s annoying boyfriend Ed.  
It’s getting kind of late and he can feel his eyes drifting to Shinsou every now and then. He looks really cute in his lazy cat costume, especially for a 1-A idiot. But Shinsou transferred, so Neito can’t lump him together with his new classmates.

“Oh my goodness, Neito, look!” Ling appears at his side out of nowhere and grabs his arm. Neito frowns.  
“What?”  
“Look!” He points towards the entrance and Neito looks in the right direction, blinking. It’s Greed’s two 1A brats and tape guy, and they’re all holding hands. Explosion boy looks flustered, the other two are grinning.  
“What am I looking at?” he asks Ling.  
“They’re dating! Kat was pining so hard, I can’t believe it’s finally over.”  
So explosion boy did this meme costume to charm his crushes. Interesting and surprisingly creative. Neito can’t fall behind.  
“I have to do something,” he tells Ling and then strides towards Shinsou, trying to get his nerves under control. If that emotionally stunted asshole can score two significant others, he can ask his own crush to dance, dammit!

Shinsou is leaning against the wall by the snack table listening to the sparkle guy talk, Plague Mask silently next to them.

“I’m just saying, some glitter on your face and the cat ears would really compliment your costume,” Sparkles says, smiling brightly.  
“I wanted to keep it simple. I only dressed up because Eri wanted me to anyway, same as dad.”  
“But that is so boring, isn’t it, mon chéri?” He’s addressing Plague Mask with that who simply shrugs.  
Sparkles notices him then and claps his hands.  
“Mon Dieu! Your costume is magnifique!”  
Neito grins proudly.  
“Of course it is.”  
“Is that a real sword?” Plague Mask asks and Neito unsheathes it.  
“No, my… guardian wouldn’t let me bring a real one. But it’s the best replica I could find. Want to hold it?”  
He needs to make a good impression in front of Shinsou, so he can be tolerable to two of his classmates for a few minutes. It’s not even so hard when he can show off his costume.  
While Plague Mask turns the fake sword in his hands, Sparkles is up close in his face inspecting his eyeliner and then his corset.  
“The attention to detail is stunning.”

Neito is basking in the attention, but he did come here to ask Shinsou to dance, so he politely asks Plague Mask for his sword back and sheathes it.  
He didn’t plan on asking in front of other people, but he won’t chicken out now. He puts on his charming pirate persona and smiles.  
“Shinsou, would you care for a dance?” He holds out his hand, bowing a little. Sparkles next to them claps in delight, but gladly Plague Mask takes one of his hands in his and pulls him away from them, saying something to him that Neito can’t understand.  
Shinsou is looking at him for a moment, then he takes his offered hand.  
“Why not.”

They walk further into the room together where other people are dancing, and Neito catches Mic’s eyes. They grin at him brightly and the song fades into a slow one. Blood shoots into Neito’s cheeks and he’s glad that it won’t be very visible in the party lighting here.  
Shinsou is standing in front of him, seemingly unsure what to do, so Neito puts on his most confident smile and puts his hands on the other boy’s waist. That seems to give Shinsou some confidence and his hands rest on Neito’s shoulders.  
They move together to the slow song, and Neito feels very warm because they’re so close to each other. Shinsou’s lips are slightly quirked, almost as if he’s trying not to smile, and Neito’s heart skips a beat when he notices.  
This evening is going great.

They dance to a few more songs, the next ones all faster, but they still hold on to each other.  
Finally, it’s curfew time (for the party the teachers gave them one extra hour) and the music is fading into nothing and Present Mic tells them all how much fun it was to play DJ for them all and that their costumes were amazing. Then they remind everyone to check in with their class representatives in the dorms so they can make sure nobody snuck out or fell asleep in some dark corner. Some students complain but then finally everyone starts making their way towards the exit while Mic plays some quiet music again, probably so it’s not such an abrupt ending to this all.  
Shinsou looks at Neito, and Neito looks back at him. Maybe he didn’t score a boyfriend at this party, but at least he danced with his crush.  
They step apart, and Shinsou smiles a little.  
“This was… surprisingly fun.”  
“What can I say, I make the most boring parties more fun,” Neito says with a little grin.  
Shinsou huffs and nods.  
“You do. Goodnight.”  
Neito looks after him a little stunned until an arm snakes around his waist and Ling is grinning directly in his face.  
“Someone has a crush,” he sings.  
“I just want to sleep. Where’s your boyfriend?”  
“Stealing leftover cake.”  
“I don’t like him because he’s a lot like explosion boy, but I like his ideas.”  
Ling grins.  
“If you’re nice you can come to my room and we’ll share it with you.”  
Neito thinks about it for a moment, then tilts his head to the side.  
“I suppose that can be arranged.”

**Greed**

It takes half an hour until all students are finally gone. Greed stands in the middle of the gym, arms crossed, and surveys the chaos.  
An arm wraps around his side and he looks over at Mic.  
“You know what, I think I’ll help you tomorrow.”  
“Why?” Greed asks suspiciously.  
“Because I’m very nice?”  
“What do you want in return?” he asks, eyes still narrowed. Nobody would voluntarily help him with this mess.  
Mic rubs their neck.  
“I just want to get to know you better. See if you’re good for Sho’.”  
Greed watches them.  
“Okay, fine,” he says after a moment. “Though, I honestly don’t know if I’m good for him. But I’ll try.”  
“That’s good enough for me. Still, let’s clean together tomorrow. We can listen to music while we do that and I’ll demonstrate my amazing singing voice!”  
Chuckling, he nods.  
“Sounds good.”

Mic looks over Greed’s shoulder and grins.  
“Someone’s coming. Enjoy the quiet and don’t forget to shut off the music and lights. See you tomorrow morning!”  
And with that, they walk past him. Greed turns and sees Aizawa passing Mic and exchanging a few words, then he stops next to him.  
“Finally quiet again.”  
Greed nods and studies him. After a moment, he reaches out and fixes his cat ears.  
“They were tilted,” he explains. Aizawa smiles a little and takes his hand.  
“Doesn’t Catwoman usually wear leather?”  
“Yes, but that would have been fucking uncomfortable and probably inappropriate to wear here.”  
Aizawa grins.  
“Yes, that makes sense.”

They stand there in the empty gym, the lights on, but the Halloween decoration still blinking in orange and yellow colours, soft music playing in the background. The atmosphere is light in a heavy way. Greed isn’t sure if that makes sense, but that’s what it feels like after the big party that took place here until just a few minutes ago.  
Aizawa’s hand is warm in his, and he pulls him closer, putting a hand on his waist.  
“Why don’t you dance?” he asks quietly.  
Aizawa is silent, then he leans his head against Greed’s shoulder and puts his free arm around him. Greed keeps his loose hold on him.  
“My last boyfriend,” Aizawa finally says. “He loved to dance… We danced every chance we got. He even danced in the kitchen when we were baking together.” His quiet chuckle sounds sad.  
Greed doesn’t know what to say, so he squeezes Aizawa’s hand lightly.  
“I haven’t danced since he…”  
He doesn’t have to say it. The way Aizawa talks about him he clearly still loves him, and there’s no bitterness there, so they didn’t break up. He died.  
“It’s okay,” Greed mumbles. “We can just stand here for a bit, there’s no need to dance. And if some day you’re ready to dance again…”

Aizawa tilts his head so he’s looking up at Greed. He would love to just kiss him, but Aizawa’s eyes are so sad, and he’s clearly in the past with his thoughts, so he just strokes some of his hair behind his ear and pulls him back against his chest.

Put Your Head On My Shoulder starts playing quietly in the background, and they stand there, just holding each other for a while, lights blinking, until Aizawa takes a step back.  
“I bet your feet are killing you again. Do you want to sleep on my couch tonight so you don’t have to go home?”  
Greed smiles and doesn’t make a joke about sleeping in his bed. He’s starting to recognise Aizawa’s boundaries and when not to make inappropriate comments.  
“I’d like that, thanks.”

They shut off the music and the lights, lock up the gym and then walk to the dorms, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jean brought Todoroki the costume because the whole Team Mustang definitely gave Todoroki their phone number in case he needs them for something, so when he asked them for a costume for Halloween, he immediately agreed to bring him one to school, they really like Shouto since the internship 🥰🥰  
> Do you know the Fanart of Todoroki in Mustang's outfit? I only saw it after Lee and I decided on Shouto's costume, but I still wanna share because it's amazing: https://twitter.com/spikelookalike/status/1047610157641945089?s=09
> 
> And just the mental image of Aizawa and Greed standing in the middle of a gym that's littered with decoration and trash, party lights still blinking even though the ceiling lights are back on, Put your head on my shoulder quietly playing in the background and them just holding each other - I am so f*cking soft for these two, I can't  
> I may have teared up a bit while writing that scene coz I was listening to the song on loop
> 
> Well, I really hope you liked this fun little chapter, next time: Cultural Festival, so more Eri & Greed interacting!


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cultural Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: hints on child abuse (Eri), cursing  
> Spoiler Warning: light Festival Arc spoilers
> 
> The chapter is a little shorter again, but here's my Greedzawa playlist as compensation:  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNaiewBckcJLOnNpZUrGjViUAysD80Hw5
> 
> I really just think the vibe fits them perfectly (and thanks to Bitters for recommending Taking you there by Broods & Grow as we go by Ben Platt as Greedzawa songs, they fit right in!)
> 
> Now enjoy the chapter 🥰

The cultural festival starts kind of chaotic with Midoriya arriving late and beat up, possibly from a villain fight he’s denying, but then the class A performance starts and Greed stands in the back with Aizawa and Mic, watching. Ling is somewhere in the crowd with Monoma, and Eri is with Togata closer to the front so she can see everything clearly.

Greed can’t help the little proud grin when he sees Katsuki at the drums and Denki with the guitar. Mic elbows him.  
“You look like a proud dad.”  
“I _am_ a proud dad.”  
They chuckle and focus back on the performance that’s starting now. Greed tries to look at everyone on stage, but his eyes keep going back to his kids’ happy and carefree expressions. Well, they also look really concentrated on the music, but they look like the burden they usually seem to carry every day is briefly lifted to let them just be normal teens.

The performance in itself is really stunning.  
Mic has to leave for a patrol in the middle of it. They clap Greed on the shoulder enthusiastically and then - a little lighter - Aizawa too.  
“See you later. Or tomorrow. Enjoy the festival and tell me all about it!”  
“Will do,” Greed promises grinning and watches Mic leave.  
When the music stops there’s loud clapping, and Greed joins the applause. A look at Aizawa tells him that he’s proud of his students - and Shinsou especially - too. It warms his chest.  
Next, there’s the theater play of class B, and once again Greed has to hide his way too big smile behind his hand.  
Monoma and Ling are doing a great job, and he wants to give them both a big hug.  
There’s no Mic to call him out on being a sappy dad, but apparently Aizawa has taken over that role.  
“You’re getting soft,” he whispers in his ear, making goosebumps spread on Greed’s neck.  
“I don’t think I mind it. It makes me feel…” _Human._  
Aizawa doesn’t seem to mind him not finishing his sentence. He brushes their hands together and then they focus back on the play.

Once it’s over, Greed walks over to his kids and tells them all that they did a good job. They deserve the praise.  
Then he joins Aizawa, Togata, Midoriya and Eri. They walk around the festival, seeing what the other classes prepared. There’s food too, and Greed makes sure Aizawa eats something. The man looks at him with an exasperated expression, but his eyes are soft and he doesn’t protest too much.

At one point the kids wander off alone and Aizawa looks at Greed.  
“So, how do you like it?”  
“It’s nice. The kids needed something like this after everything that happened, even though they did have the party too.”  
“I agree. But it almost went wrong again…”  
“The villain Midoriya definitely fought?”  
“Yes…”  
“But nothing happened. It’s all going well. Maybe… Maybe the villains will leave the students alone for a bit now. Let them be actual kids.”  
Aizawa sighs deeply, and Greed wants to hold his hand, but they’re in public and he doesn’t know how Aizawa likes PDA.  
“You know that that’s probably not going to happen. They’re training to be heroes. Their childhood ended the moment they entered UA…”

It’s depressing. And true. But they shouldn’t think of sad truths right now.

“Come on, let’s share cotton candy.”  
“I don’t like it, it’s too sweet.”  
Greed huffs.  
“It’s not too sweet. You’ll like it!”

He walks over to the students selling it and buys a strawberry flavoured one - his first cotton candy ever. So he's talking without prior knowledge, but that's okay. It's something sweet so it has to be good. Greed likes sweet food a lot, probably because they barely had it growing up.

Back with Aizawa, he holds out the cotton candy and grins. The teacher sighs again.  
“I don’t want sticky hands.”  
Greed shrugs.  
“There’s a solution for that.”  
He pulls off some of it and cringes a little. It really is damn sticky.  
“Open wide,” he says and Aizawa blinks, his surprise probably the only reason why he tolerates Greed feeding him cotton candy in public between students. Greed chuckles and eats some himself.  
“ _Damn_ , that’s really sweet.”  
“I told you.”  
“Well I never had it before, so…”  
“Really?”  
“There’s a bunch of things I never had or did, growing up in a villain family.”  
Aizawa reaches out and eats some more cotton candy.  
“I keep forgetting that you didn’t have a normal childhood…”

Greed sighs. He would like to be able to forget it too.  
As more cotton candy melts on his tongue, he feels the hairs on his neck stand up all of a sudden, and he turns his head, looking over his shoulder. There’s nothing, but now he feels like he’s being watched. He frowns and turns, sweeping over the crowd of students and teachers with his eyes.  
“Are you alright?” Aizawa asks and snaps Greed out of his worry.  
“I feel like someone’s watching us,” he says slowly. The other now checks the crowd too, then he shrugs.  
“I don’t see anyone. Maybe it were some students because we’re just standing here eating this awful stuff.”  
“Why do you keep eating it if it’s so awful?” Greed asks, distracted. Aizawa’s finger appears in his face and wipes the corner of his mouth.  
“You got cotton candy in your face. And I eat it because it’s addictive. And I like the texture.”  
Greed looks at him and imagines that if they kissed now it’d taste sweet and like artificial strawberry. Then he feels eyes on his back again and spins around. He thinks he sees familiar black hair moving through the crowd, but then Aizawa touches his shoulder and distracts him.  
“You’re probably imagining it because we talked about your childhood and the crowd is overwhelming you.”  
He tries to focus back on Aizawa and nods.  
“You’re probably right. Let’s find Eri. She’ll love cotton candy.”

\-----

Eri does love cotton candy, so after she ate the rest of Greed’s, he buys her another one and she shares it with Midoriya and Togata. Greed manages to relax again, watching the girl be amazed by the festival. She got out in time, so she’ll be able to have a nice childhood from now on. But there’s still trauma there clearly. It reminds Greed of what he wanted to talk to Aizawa about.

So while Eri is chatting with the two boys, Greed walks closer to the teacher and lowers his voice.  
“I wanted to ask you something,” he says.  
Aizawa looks at him, eyebrows raised.  
“Does UA have therapists or provides them?”  
Apparently he didn’t expect Greed to ask something actually serious because he seems taken aback and needs a moment before he answers.  
“No, UA doesn’t. I could talk to Nedzu about it, however.”  
“Do that please. I can’t believe a hero school doesn’t have any therapists or options for students to go see one, that’s so fu-”  
Aizawa elbows him and Greed remembers the little girl walking ahead of them.  
“Freaking irresponsible.”  
“It’s for Katsuki, isn’t it?”  
“Yes, but also her.”  
Greed nods in Eri’s direction and watches her for a moment, looking almost relaxed, walking between Midoriya and Togata.

“Did you decide?” he then asks. He doesn’t have to clarify, Aizawa knows what he’s asking.  
“Yes. I’ll adopt her. I’m already working on the formalities. It’s quite easy since I can help with her quirk and apparently that’s the most important aspect for everyone involved in the adoption process.”  
Aizawa sounds upset, and Greed can’t blame him. They’re letting someone adopt her without much difficulty because he can control her quirk. Sure, it’s dangerous and scary, but there should be other criteria too, like how suited the person is to be a parent. Luckily for Eri, Aizawa is a good person and Greed doesn’t have any doubt that he’ll give her the best childhood possible.  
“You’ll do great,” Greed mumbles and smiles a little at him.  
“Thanks.”

\-----

They meet Katsuki, Sero and Denki eventually who are walking around together. They talk with Eri for a bit and joke around, and Greed is glad to see Katsuki be civil around Midoriya. Them talking really helped them repair their relationship step by step.  
After a bit, they excuse themselves and leave again.

Greed crouches down next to Eri and smiles at her. She grimaces back. Togata said she finally smiled properly at class 1A’s performance, but she still has a long way to go to learn how to smile with ease. Greed doesn’t mind it, he knows how hard it is to grow up without a reason to smile. His reason to smile when he was younger was Envy, but he’s eight years older than him, so that was eight years alone.  
“How do you like the festival, little princess?”  
“It’s really nice,” she says, sounding happy.  
Greed smiles wider.  
“That is really good, otherwise I would have to scold everyone here for not making the guest of honour happy.”  
“Guest of honour?”  
“That means the most important guest.”  
She tugs on the strap of her satchel.  
“Am I the most important guest?”  
“Well of course! You’re our little princess. That’s as important as it gets.”  
This time her grimace looks a little closer to a smile and his chest warms.

“Would the princess like to rest her feet for a while?”  
“But there’s so much to see!”  
“Oh I don’t mean sitting down somewhere.”  
He stands up and holds out his hands. She studies them for a few moments. He doesn’t push her, just waits, and finally, she nods and steps closer so he can pick her up.  
Careful not to be too fast, he lifts her on his shoulders and she hits him in the face with her feet accidentally, but he just chuckles and makes sure she’s sitting properly.  
“No worries, princess, as your knight I can handle being kicked. Can you see well?”  
“Yes!” She sounds excited and holds on to his head, and Greed bites his lip to hide the soft smile trying to break out on his lips. His eyes meet Aizawa’s, and his face is so fond, Greed feels all warm and fuzzy.

They continue on then, walking around the festival, making sure Eri sees everything but the haunted house or whatever it is class 1C organised as that’s not something a little girl should see.  
When the festival is over, he puts her down again. Midoriya gives her a candied apple he made by himself, and Greed grins. He’s a really good kid.

His attention is distracted again when he thinks he sees an eye in the shadows, and his whole body grows cold, shield starting to rise on his hands.  
A hand grabs his, and he forces himself to lower his shield so he doesn’t hurt Aizawa with his claws.  
“Are you okay?” the man asks quietly.  
Greed looks back at the shadows, but there’s only darkness. He swallows.  
“I think it’s just been a long day,” Greed then says and squeezes Aizawa’s hand. “I’ll be better tomorrow.”

Yet, when he goes home that night after helping the students with tidying up the first things from the festival again, he feels like somebody is following him, and leaves his shield up all the way until he’s safely in the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greed interacting with Eri makes my heart melt 🥺💕  
> And Greed and Aizawa are so precious together, I'm... 🥺🥺
> 
> I wonder if Greed really just imagined someone watching him or if there was someone 😏
> 
> Next chapter: Monoma tells Greed about his crush on Shinsou


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monoma's crush on Shinsou

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing, light mention of blood, vague reference to childhood trauma
> 
> Hello,  
> An (for me personally) exciting update: I have 2 and a half more chapters to write, then just a lot of editing, but I'm almost done writing this fic!!!  
> I'll keep the upload schedule this way tho for 1 reason: the last chapter will be uploaded on Christmas, Dec. 24th or 25th idk yet but definitely on Christmas :D  
> So yes, uploads still Tuesday and Friday
> 
> Now have fun with the chapter! 🥰
> 
> PS: I changed the Archive Warning to Graphic Depictions of Violence for the future chapters, it won't be too graphic, I won't have to change the rating to E, but it is still kinda graphic, so I wanted to add that warning

Monoma tells Greed a few days after the cultural festival that he talked to Ling and thought it over and decided that he’d like to be a part of the family.  
It doesn’t change much since they live in the dorms, but it means he’ll be with them over Christmas and New Year, and Greed is glad about it. He’ll make sure it’ll be nice.

Mid November, Monoma strides into Greed’s office and slams the door shut behind himself.  
Greed blinks at him and puts the list with cleaning supplies that need to be restocked which he was writing down.  
“What’s up, kid?”  
“I’m in love.”  
It sounds so dramatic coming from Monoma, and Greed can’t help but grin a bit.  
“Oh, are you? Who’s the lucky person?”  
“Hitoshi Shinsou from class A.” He sounds suffering and now Greed bursts into laughter.  
“You fell for the enemy?”  
“He was in class C and moved up because he’s skilled, he’s not an original enemy.”  
“I see. But isn’t it still a Romeo and Juliet situation? Your class families are rivals.”  
“It’s kind of poetic, isn’t it? But love can defy rivalry.”  
“Just don’t drink any poison or stab yourself, okay?”

Monoma walks to the desk and sits on it. Greed huffs. Why do they all choose this seat when talking to him in his office?  
“Don’t crinkle my papers with your butt.”  
“Leave my butt alone.”  
Greed grins and leans back in his chair.  
“So, you’re in love, huh? What are you gonna do about it? Ask him out?”  
“No! That’s so tasteless. We need to get closer first, chance meetings, hanging out in groups, accidentally running into each other, being paired up for tasks.”  
“So you want to live a romance movie?”  
“Who wouldn’t?”  
“Me? They’re so cheesy.”  
“And you and Aizawa aren’t?” Monoma crosses his arms. “Don’t think I didn’t see you feed him cotton candy, looking absolutely smitten.”  
Greed rubs his face, embarrassed.  
“I didn’t look smitten,” he protests.  
“Oh you looked disgustingly in love.”  
“Okay, we’re getting off track, this about you and Shinsou. So you don’t want to ask him out.”  
“I do plan on asking him on a date eventually, just not right now.”

Greed doesn’t fully understand, but that’s fine. He’s going to support him anyways.  
“Alright. So… Need me to help somehow?”  
The kid grins and Greed realises that that’s why he’s here. He needs Greed’s help.  
“I’m glad that you’re asking. I need you and Aizawa to help us meet accidentally and push us together.”  
“Isn’t that cheating? It’s not accidental if we cause it.”  
“It doesn’t matter, come on! Do it for love!”

Amused, Greed crosses his arms and looks at Monoma.  
“So you want me to set up a playdate with you and Shinsou?”  
“No! I’m not ten. And playdates aren’t accidental.”  
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to make you meet accidentally. As the janitor I can’t exactly assign you two a project together so you have to spend time with each other. And you’re in different classes, so Aizawa can’t do much either. You’d have more chances if you have us set up a playdate for you.”  
Monoma’s face lights up.  
“With Eri!”  
“What?”  
“Set up a playdate for me with Eri. Maybe I could help her with her quirk. You know, copy it and then figure out how to control it.”  
Slowly, Greed processes the idea and nods.  
“That’s actually smart.”

Monoma grins proudly and Greed gets up.  
“I’ll talk to Aizawa about it. But it might not work because her quirk has a physical aspect.”  
“It’s worth a try, isn’t it? And I’d be around Shinsou because he is with Eri all the time.”  
“A win-win situation, huh? Fine, let’s try. Do you want to stay here for a bit?”  
The kid nods and slides off the desk and onto the chair Greed stepped away from.  
“Yes, I need some alone time.”  
“Okay, just leave my stuff alone, deal?”  
“Deal. You’re helping me find love after all!”

Greed snorts and walks to the door.

\-----

They have the _playdate_ with Monoma and Eri the next day. They show up at Aizawa’s dorm apartment together and Shinsou opens the door for them. Eri is sitting on the floor in the living room, drawing. Aizawa is on the couch with Cloud in his lap, watching over her.  
Eri looks up when they enter and a little smile appears on her lips. She’s getting better at that.  
“Greed!”  
“Hello, princess. Did you miss me?”  
She nods and Greed smiles.  
“What are you drawing?”  
He steps closer, crouches down and looks at the paper. There’s two stick figures, one with short black hair, one with long black hair, and they are holding hands. Next to them is a stick figure with purple hair and a small one with light blue hair. There’s an unfinished figure with green hair and he suspects that a blond one will follow too.  
“Your family?” he asks and she nods, looking sheepish now.  
Greed looks at Aizawa who’s hiding a smile in the collar of his black turtleneck. His eyes are betraying him though.  
“That’s really beautiful, princess. Do you think you can continue drawing in a minute? I want to introduce someone to you.”  
She puts the green pencil down and looks at Greed and then up at Monoma who has been standing next to him silently the whole time.  
Greed told him to be nice and to use child-appropriate language. And to try and not overwhelm her somehow.

“This is Neito Monoma. He’s… one of my kids.”  
“You can call me Neito,” Monoma says and kneels down next to Greed to be closer to Eri’s eye level. Eri nods.  
“Okay. Nice to meet you, Neito. I’m Eri.”  
Greed can’t help but smile at how cute she is, being all polite.  
“Did Aizawa-san tell you to say that to people?” he asks.  
She nods.  
“He told me to always be polite. Unless someone tries to hurt me, then I can be really loud and tell them to leave me alone!”  
“Exactly, he’s right. You can even kick them when they don’t leave you alone, you know.” He winks at her and she giggles a little.  
“Don’t teach her bad things,” Aizawa warns, but there’s amusement in his voice. He seems to trust Greed not to overstep any lines.  
“I would never. Eri, do you want to learn about Neito’s quirk? It’s a really fun one.”  
She nods, a little more hesitant now and one of her hands touches her little horn.

Greed nudges Monoma.  
“He’ll best tell you himself.”  
Then he gets up and walks over to the couch, falling down next to Aizawa. He runs a hand over Cloud’s head gently, then rests it on the cat’s back next to Aizawa’s and watches Monoma and Eri.  
The girl seems a little nervous, but Monoma is smiling his best and kindest smile, and since Shinsou is sitting on the floor next to them, she should be fine.  
“I can copy quirks,” Monoma starts. “I just need to touch someone and then I can use their quirk for ten minutes. Right now I can copy four at a time, but I can’t use them at the same time. So I could copy Greed’s quirk and Shinsou’s quirk, but I couldn’t use Greed’s shield while brainwashing someone.”  
Eri nods along slowly. She seems to understand, and Greed isn’t surprised since Monoma is doing a good job at explaining it to the child.

“Did you ever see Greed’s quirk?” Monoma then asks and she shakes her head.  
“Okay, don’t be scared, I’ll use it now.”

It’s weird to see his shield spread over someone else’s skin. Since Monoma never used it, he doesn’t have the grip on it to stop it, so it spreads over his whole body, covering his head too.  
Eri’s eyes are wide and she reaches out to touch it. Greed tenses, ready to intervene. His claws are sharp, she could accidentally cut herself.  
But Shinsou is already moving next to her.  
“Careful,” he says and she pulls her hand back again. “Look, his fingers have claws now, like Cloud and Ariel. They’re really sharp, so you have to be careful.”  
She nods and then Shinsou takes one of Monoma’s clawed hands and holds it, probably so he doesn’t accidentally move and hurt Eri.  
Greed is sure that if it was possible with the shield up, Monoma would be blushing like crazy right now. He chuckles a bit and feels Aizawa’s eyes on him.

“What’s so funny?” he asks quietly. Greed leans over to whisper in his ear.  
“Monoma has a big crush on Shinsou, so I bet he’s dying on the inside right now.”  
Aizawa grins and looks back at the three kids on the floor. Eri has her little hand resting on Monoma’s palm while Shinsou is still holding it with his thumb over the fingers holding them down and away from Eri.  
Then Monoma lowers the shield and his face turns bright red in an instant because their hands are still touching.  
Greed bites his lip so he won’t laugh.

“Your quirk is nice. Can you copy mine? It’s dangerous and hurts people…”  
That knocks the humour right out of Greed, and he watches as Shinsou and Monoma drop their hands and Monoma smiles at the girl.  
“It’s not dangerous, it’s just very strong. You’ll be a great hero one day with that quirk, trust me.”  
She doesn’t reply.  
“Do you want me to try and copy it? Aizawa sensei can erase it if I can’t control it.”  
Greed taps a finger on his knee, getting a little nervous now. Is this safe for Monoma? And for Eri?  
Aizawa nudges him with his elbow and he stops his tapping. It’s safe. Aizawa can erase quirks. It’s fine.

“Okay,” Eri finally says, and Monoma nods and gets up.  
“Do you have something I can test it on? A plant?”  
Shinsou stands up too and leaves the living room. He returns with a dead plant a moment later.  
“He killed it because he forgot that there’s a plant in the bathroom,” he explains with a glance at Aizawa. Greed snorts but stops when Aizawa glares at him.  
The plant is placed on the coffee table and then Shinsou leads Eri a few steps away to the doorway.

Monoma rubs his hands and stands in front of the plant.  
“Alright, let’s see,” he mumbles. Greed can see that he’s nervous too.  
They wait and- nothing happens. Monoma frowns and makes a concentrated face, but the plant stays dead.  
Finally, his shoulders slump and he rubs the back of his head.  
“I can’t copy it.”  
“I expected that. You can’t copy physical quirks, and Eri’s Rewind is heavily connected to her horn,” Aizawa says calmly.  
Greed gets up.  
“No worries, kid, we tried.”  
Monoma nods and clears his throat.  
“I’m sorry, Eri, I would have really liked to help.”  
She shakes her head.  
“It’s okay. Do you want to draw with me?”

Monoma’s smile returns.  
“I would love to.”

While the kids sit on the floor and Eri hands both Monoma and Shinsou each a piece of paper and a coloured pencil, Aizawa gets up.  
“I’ll make some tea.”  
Greed follows him into the kitchen and leans against the fridge, watching him fill a kettle with water.  
“Monoma is a good kid, I’m glad you decided to take him in too.”  
“Yeah, he is. He just needs validation and attention. Someone who cares about him and shows it.”  
“Well, then he found the perfect family.”

Greed chuckles, but Aizawa is smiling.  
“I’m serious. You’re really good at this. With Eri too. She asks about you sometimes. Hitoshi told her we’re in love and what that means, so she’s including you in the family drawings too.”  
Greed’s heart is beating really fast in his chest.  
“What does that mean for us?”  
“That we soon have a daughter together? If you want.”  
Aizawa isn’t looking at him, and Greed thinks it over. He has kids, he sees himself as a father, yes. But they’re sixteen. They’re teens, and they can tell him when he’s doing something wrong. But Eri is six. She needs a stable, safe environment. Is he ready for that? Are they as a… couple ready for that? They never specified what they even are, and decided to take it slow. And now they possibly want to parent a child together? One with a lot of trauma? Greed has his own trauma he can barely deal with and mostly ignores. And then his personality… 

He clears his throat.  
“I don’t know if I can do that.”  
“I understand.” Aizawa sounds like he’s trying not to show that he’s disappointed.  
“I don’t think you do. You shouldn’t even trust me with a child. You don’t know me. What I did. What I am…”  
“What do you mean, what you are?”  
“I have two quirks, Aizawa.” He sighs deeply. “I realised by now that that’s not normal. And sometimes… I don’t feel right. Less by now, but I used to feel so…” He rubs his face.  
“Just wrong. I don’t know what my father did with me and my siblings. We’re all wrong. What if I’m a living time bomb? A monster? What if some day, I snap? I can’t be around a little girl when I’m such a danger. My kids are old enough to fight me and stop me, but Eri?”  
Greed turns his back to Aizawa and rubs his face again. Is he even human? Or is he some science experiment their father conducted?

There’s footsteps behind him and he tenses.  
“Don’t touch me.”  
They stop.  
“Greed.” Aizawa’s voice is so soft and gentle. “Yes, maybe your father fucked you up somehow. You were a little unstable in some aspects, and I guess you still are. But you’re still you, and you’re no monster. I’ve seen you interact with the kids, not only Ling, Katsuki, Denki, and now Monoma, but the other students as well. You’re kind and patient with them, more so than me. I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to them. Just look at yourself when you’re with Eri. I care about you even more every time I see how you treat her.”  
Greed is chewing on his lip aggressively, blood filling his mouth.  
“But what if? I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt her.”  
He raises his shield after his lip healed and stares at his claws.

Aizawa sighs and then moves around him, not touching him, but standing close to him.  
“You won’t. You’re a good person.”  
Greed moves forward and pushes Aizawa backwards against the counter harshly, putting a clawed hand on his chest.  
“I’m not,” he snarls. “You need to stop saying that. I did so many awful things, starting with abandoning my brother! I left him behind with our fucked up family, and he joined the League because of it. It’s my fault that he’ll either be killed or arrested soon! I let my brother down because I was fucking scared!”  
It’s new information for Aizawa, but to his credit he doesn’t falter. His hands take Greed’s one that’s pressed to his chest, but instead of removing it, he holds it there and doesn’t let Greed pull away.  
“Then hurt me.”  
“What?!”  
“Hurt me. Right now. Come on. You can easily pierce my skin with your claws, right? So do it.”  
Greed pulls harder and manages to wrench his hand out of Aizawa’s grip. The electric kettle shuts off, done with boiling water. They both ignore it.  
“Are you insane?” he snaps, trying to keep his voice down so he doesn’t alarm the kids in the living room.  
“You didn’t hurt me.”  
“Not this time.”  
“Greed, shut up. You won’t hurt anybody. You have so much love in your heart you’d kill yourself before ever letting yourself hurt anybody you love and care about. You made a mistake leaving your brother behind, yes. But that’s all it was. A mistake. Everybody makes those.”  
Greed scoffs and shakes his head.  
“Mine had bad consequences. This isn’t like a wrong answer on a test. This one ruined my brother’s life.”  
He can barely look at Aizawa because his face is so sad and caring.  
“You’ve been carrying that around this entire time, haven’t you? Why didn’t you talk to someone?”  
“I’m not good at that.”

Aizawa holds out his hand and after a moment, Greed drops his shield and takes it, allowing him to intertwine their fingers.

“So you don’t want to help me parent Eri because you’re worried you’ll hurt her? Because of what your father possibly did?”  
Greed nods. Aizawa squeezes his hand.  
“Okay. I won’t force you, but I hope you’ll still help me out sometimes.”  
“Yes, I think I can do that. As long as I’m not left alone with her.”  
“We can arrange that. And maybe one day you’ll see what I see.”

Greed doesn’t really want to ask, but he does anyways.  
“What do you see?”  
Aizawa raises their joined hands and kisses Greed’s knuckles.  
“Someone who went through a lot of growth these past months. You went from unstable, cocky and pretty annoying to caring and kind. You didn’t make me uncomfortable with sexual jokes in a long time. You manage to hold back in your language around Eri. You got Midoriya and Katsuki to talk and make up.”  
“Am I still annoying?”  
Aizawa grins a little.  
“Of course, but I don’t mind that.”  
With a sigh, Greed leans his forehead against Aizawa’s and closes his eyes.  
“You don't know everything about me.”  
“And I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready. And it won’t change how I feel about you.”  
Greed kind of doubts that, but he’s too selfish to say more right now. He just wants to enjoy being close to Aizawa for a moment.

The kitchen door opens and Greed moves backwards quickly. Shinsou raises an eyebrow and smirks.  
“We were wondering how long you’re taking with the tea.”  
“We’ll be over in a moment,” Aizawa says, and Shinsou leaves them again.

Greed huffs and rubs his face.  
“He probably thinks we made out, but no. I just unloaded a whole bunch of trauma onto you.”  
Aizawa cups Greed’s face with one hand and strokes his cheek with his thumb.  
“I’ll help you carry it. I also have baggage, a lot of it. And I’m willing to share it with you one day. It’s easier to share than to live with it on your own.”  
With the tiny hint of a smile, Greed raises his own hand and puts it on top of Aizawa’s.  
“Okay,” he says softly. It’s kind of nice to know someone supports you. He feels a little less like a mess now that he shared one of his fears. Maybe one day he can work through all of his issues with Aizawa, and the weight will be lifted off of his shoulders completely.  
That would be nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greed & Eri, some Monoshin hints & Greedzawa - hope this chapter had a little something for everyone :D
> 
> Next chapter: Greed finally asks Aizawa out on a first real date


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed asks Aizawa out. Then... things don't go according to plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: feeling of claustrophobia because of restraints, strangulation & asphyxiation, panic attack, near death experience, amnesia, cursing
> 
> Please take the TWs serious and take care of yourself!!
> 
> Now enjoy the chapter, and... I'm sorry ❤️

Greed rubs his hands together and squares his shoulders. It’s time. After the patrol, Halloween and the festival, they finally need to go on a proper date, and today is the day he’ll ask Aizawa to go on it with him.

He finds the man in the gym where he just finished training with class 1A, and the students are leaving to get changed. Greed still sometimes helps with training, but not today, he had too much janitor work to do.  
Aizawa nods at him, probably thinking he’s just here to tidy up the mess the kids made - which he is, but not only that.  
Putting his best charming smile on his lips, Greed walks up to him and takes his hands, since they’re alone by now. Aizawa’s eyes snap to him, confused first, then they soften and he squeezes his hands gently.  
“I’ve been thinking,” Greed starts and Aizawa grins.  
“Don’t hurt yourself.”  
He rolls his eyes and ignores him.  
“So, I’ve been thinking, and we’ve been taking it really slow. I know I asked you for that and I really appreciate it, but I think we should… slowly speed things up. How about… We go on a date? A proper one. Maybe to that cat café again? I’ll pay for the coffee, you pet cats, we hold hands, maybe kiss at the end of it?”  
A soft smile appears on Aizawa’s lips that has Greed’s heart skipping a beat.  
“That sounds like a good idea.”  
Greed grins brightly.  
“Of course, it’s mine!”

Aizawa shoves him lightly.  
“So, when?”  
“Today? After work?”  
“Impatient.”  
With a shrug, Greed lets go of his hands and pushes a strand of hair behind Aizawa’s ear.  
“Can you blame me?”  
“No. Okay, today at five. Meet at the café?”  
“I’ll be there.”

\-----

Greed is wearing his heels, dark jeans and a white shirt. He decided against eyeliner this time because he was too lazy to put some on, so he just made sure his hair is styled perfectly.  
Now, he’s walking down an empty side road, phone in hand, texting Ling about what the kid could get Ed for Christmas. He’s nervous because it’s their first Christmas together, and Greed thinks it’s really adorable.  
Out of nowhere, the hair on the back of his neck stands up and he locks his phone and slips it into his pocket. He’s being followed.

“Aren’t those mine?”

He spins around and is faced with Lust stepping out of a small alley, eyebrows pulled up.  
Greed raises his shield and grits his teeth.  
“How did you find me and what do you want?”  
“We’ve known where you are for a while now, little brother. You were quite careless when looking for that stray of yours.”  
With swift movement, Greed has her pinned to the wall, claws pressed to her neck.  
“You leave my kids out of this,” he snarls.  
She chuckles.  
“So fiercely protective over them, just like you were with Envy. Oh how he cried when we interrogated him to find out where you went.”  
He digs his claws into her skin lightly, but her healing is almost as strong as his, so he has to take them out again so she doesn’t heal around his hand.  
“I’m going to kill you for laying hand on my baby brother.”  
“Our baby brother, dear.”  
“No. We have nothing to do with you. You’re just pawns in Father’s grand plan.”

He should have known that she wouldn’t come alone, but he was too focused on being angry to notice the other dark presence nearby until he speaks.

“Maybe we are pawns, but so are you.”

Shadowy hands shoot forward and wrap around Greed, pinning his arms tightly to his sides, keeping him unable to move. One string of darkness slowly winds around his neck, pulling tightly, cutting off his air.  
“Your healing can’t do much against this, can it?” Pride asks mockingly and steps out of the shadows. His short black hair is falling into his eyes, but Greed can still see the insane expression in them. He’s wearing his stupid button up shirt and vest, like a respectable business man. But it’s all just for show. In reality, Pride is a cold-blooded murderer, the worst of them all, who jumps at every single one of Father’s words, even at 31 desperate for parental praise.  
He disgusts Greed. And the worst thing is, that he’s stronger than him. They have the same healing abilities, but while Greed has a mostly defensive quirk, Pride’s ability to control shadows makes him a deadly attacker.

“What do you want?” he presses out, wondering how long Pride will keep this up. He's like a predator playing with his food, but they need him for something, so Greed isn't too worried about actually being killed.  
“Pride, stop playing with him, Father needs him alive, remember,” Lust scolds, proving Greed right.  
Their oldest brother looks disappointed, but the pressure around his neck leaves and Greed sucks in oxygen greedily.  
“What do you want?” he then asks again, able to fully express his anger this time, no restraints around his throat.  
“Don’t worry about that. You’ll see.”  
Too fast for Greed to react, Lust stabs him in the shin with one of her fingers that extend like spears, and while his quirk heals it, she grabs a rock from the street and hits him in the head hard enough that it would have given anyone else a fatal head wound. Thanks to his quirk, he just passes out.

\-----

When Greed wakes up again, he’s tied to a chair in a warehouse, barefoot, his siblings minus Envy around him in various emotional stages.  
There’s Sloth, sitting on the floor, looking half asleep. Gluttony is picking at his shirt, clearly bored. Wrath is studying Greed as if he’s trying to figure something out, eyes narrowed. Lust is smirking and wearing his shoes (which were originally hers, but that stupid bitch didn’t deserve them). Pride is pacing, mumbling to himself. In the shadows near him are eyes and hands, and Greed curses himself.  
The cultural festival. He wasn’t imagining it. Pride had been there, watching him. However the bastard managed to sneak in.

“What am I doing here?” he snaps, losing the last of his patience.  
Pride stops abruptly and turns to him with a bright smile.  
“It’s finally time!”  
Greed isn’t sure what it means, but he feels really cold suddenly. Before he can ask, he hears a voice that has always scared him, even though he liked to pretend he was tougher than anyone.

“Greed. I missed you.”

His shield snaps up and he grits his teeth tightly, waiting for Father to walk into his view.  
When he does, he narrows his eyes. It’s ridiculous that they call this man father. He’s blond while all of them have black hair, and he looks nothing like them. But then again, none of them look alike past their hair colour either. It’s obvious that they’re not a biological family.

“I didn’t,” he replies coldly, trying to get his courage up by thinking of what they did to Envy. “Why did you bring me here? Is Envy here too?”  
“Oh no, we don’t need him right now,” Father says and waves a dismissive hand. “You on the other hand…”  
He steps closer and grabs Greed’s chin with his normal right hand. Despite his shield he feels so exposed and his mind is swirling, desperate to think of a way to get out of here. The kids, he needs to get to his kids. Aizawa is waiting for him, he’ll probably think he forgot him or stood him up. What if he dies here? But no, Lust said Father needs him for something. And Father did just say something similar.

Greed moves his head and tries to bite Father’s fingers off, but he just tightens his grip until it’s almost painful despite the shield.  
“You’ve changed. There’s something… almost human about you.”  
“Tell me why I’m here!” Greed yells, desperation seeping into his voice, trying not to think too much about the words _almost human_.  
Father chuckles and releases his chin from his grip.  
“We need your abilities, but your emotions made you weak.”  
Greed feels him study him, and his eyes widen.  
“No,” he whispers. “No!” Desperately, he struggles against the restraints. “No! Don’t you dare! Leave me alone! No!”  
“You’ve always been good at guessing my intentions. Hmm, let’s see. What seems to be most important to you right now?”

Father smiles at him, and Greed wants to throw up. He's seen him use his quirk a few times, but never experienced it himself. Not even his shield can protect him from the strong pull, and all he can do is scream as he feels a part of himself being ripped out of his chest.

-

When Greed opens his eyes again, he’s confused as to where he is. He remembers walking somewhere and then talking and-  
He sees his siblings and narrows his eyes. Right. His stupid siblings kidnapped him.  
“What do you want from me?” he drawls and crosses his arms. They didn’t even tie him up, how silly of them.  
“We want you to help me with my plan,” Father’s voice says behind him and he spins around, fear filling him.  
“I don’t work with you.”  
“What? But you took his love,” Lust says, sounding confused.  
Greed frowns.  
“I don’t know what that is, but I’m not working with you, especially not if you took something from me.”  
“You won’t disobey me!”  
“Yes I will, and you know why? Because I fucking hate you and this whole family!”

There’s chuckling, and Greed looks at the source of it.  
Pride is grinning.  
“We didn’t take his other feelings into consideration, did we? He always had a lot of those.”  
“Go fuck yourself, Pride,” Greed spits out. Father hits him and sends his head flying to the side. He realises that his shield is down and raises it immediately after his body heals the bruise, hands clenched in fists to hide that they’re trembling. Not many things scare him, but this… this monster does.  
“Maybe we should have taken Envy instead,” Gluttony mumbles, rubbing his nose.  
Greed frowns at the name. He knows there’s some kind of memory, but he can’t quite grasp it.  
“Who’s Envy?” he asks suspiciously.  
All eyes snap to him, and then Lust starts laughing.  
“He forgot the ones he loved along with the emotion. This is glorious.”  
He still doesn’t know what love is, but clearly Father used his quirk on him. So it’s important, and Envy too. He’ll try to remember that name.  
“Still, I’m not working with you.”

Father tilts his head and then grabs Greed by the throat, holding on tightly.  
“Are you sure about that?”  
Greed raises his hands to fight back, but shadows wrap around him again and cut off his movement. One wraps around his mouth for good measure. He can’t breathe, he can’t move, he can’t speak. The fear is familiar, but still feels like he’s missing memories. He felt like this before, but he can’t remember the context.  
Unable to do anything but grunt and struggle in the restraints, Greed can’t really answer. He waits for Father to let go since they need him, slowly growing frantic, but Father doesn’t.  
Panic filling him, Greed realises that he’s dying. His shield drops and there’s a few useless red sparks, but they can only heal the bruising from his throat being squeezed, they can’t give him the oxygen he needs. His chest starts hurting, and he tries to move again, but the restraints tighten.  
There’s pressure in his head and it’s increasing, and the panic is making him see black dots. His eyes are unbelievably wide and wails push out of his gagged mouth.  
His vision is giving out more and more, and slowly, a sort of calm starts settling over him.

Then, the pressure leaves all at once and he crumples to the floor, lying there, gasping for air while his body works to heal the damage, panic still in his body. Someone steps closer, and Greed shifts backwards on the floor as fast as he can.  
He needs to get out of here, now!  
“Do you want me to do that again?” Father asks and looks down at him when Greed can’t flee further because there’s a wall behind him.  
He shakes his head, throat still feeling too raw to speak, red sparks in his vision.  
“Then you better start cooperating, you hear me?”  
His fear is greater than his hate in this moment, so Greed nods, fingernails burying in his palm.  
“I’ll help,” he chokes out, voice husky. He knows it’ll be back to normal in a few moments, latest in a few minutes, but the fear is still in his bones. He’s been choked before a whole bunch of times since it's one of the few ways to hurt him without his shield and healing being able to help much, but never to this extent.

He catches Gluttony’s eyes, and the boy looks wide-eyed and scared. Greed is reminded that he’s only 19, and probably also only so cooperative because of fear of Father and admiration towards Lust. Greed feels kind of sorry for him, but also not.

“I’m glad you’re being reasonable.” Father’s voice sounds weird and Greed’s eyes snap to him. He narrows his eyes at the man who looks pale and is sweating. The others seem to notice too.  
“What’s wrong?” Wrath asks gruffly.  
“Nothing!” Father snaps and they all flinch. He rubs his face and then straightens his shoulders.  
“We have a plan to discuss. Bring Greed along.”

Sloth grabs Greed by the arm and drags him along after Father, naked feet making quiet sounds on the stone floor.

-

“So you want to go steal students from UA?” Greed asks frowning. He’s sitting between Lust and Pride, Father standing a few feet away from the table, three arms leaning on it, going over his plan.  
“Yes, didn’t you listen?”  
“Why?”  
“I want to make my own army. I’ll just need to grab something from an old acquaintance first. Wrath, would you please contact our associate for permission to visit Tartarus in two days?”

Wrath nods, looking stoic as ever.  
“I don’t like that woman,” Lust mumbles, pursing her lips.  
“Neither do I, but she’s a necessary stepping stone to us ruling the world.”

Greed listens, confused who they’re talking about. He doubts they’ll fill him in voluntarily, so he’ll just have to pay attention and hope they let something slip. Tartarus is a high security prison, isn’t it? Who could Father possibly want to meet in there?

Before he can keep wondering about that, they go over the plan. Apparently a lot of Father’s villain friends are going to help, and they’ll attack UA high school in three days to grab as many kids as possible. Greed doesn’t like it. Father disgusts him, and the idea of other kids going through the same shit they did? But he doesn’t have a choice. His fear of that man is too intense for him right now to protest more. If he doesn’t help, he’s useless for them and then they’ll get rid of him. But he wants life. And a good life at that. So if he has to help to get the best life, the life he deserves? He’ll do it.

“Did you listen, Greed?”  
“Yes. Get to UA, stay with you while everyone leaves to grab kids because some important ones will come to us on their own.” He’s wondering why Father is so sure of that. Why would children voluntarily approach them?  
He pushes the thoughts away for now and straightens his back. Maybe he’ll get a good opening and manage to kill Father, then he can get back to his plan of ruling the world on his own. But if he fails, he’ll die… So it has to be a good opportunity…

Biting his lip, Greed stares at his naked feet on the cold floor under the table. He feels so alone and helpless, and weak, it’s ridiculous. This emptiness inside him… It shouldn’t be there. It has to do with whatever Father took from him, that much is obvious. But what is _love_?  
Well, whatever it is, he hopes it fucking sucks for the old man.  
It’s truly a funny drawback to keep what you take from people. The extra arm sprouting under his right one is from some vigilante fight a while back. And then there’s of course his enhanced vision because he took some poor guy’s ability to see. There’s a lot Father has. Multiple quirks, great intelligence, money. Whatever people need the most, cherish the most, he takes for himself. Sometimes he struggles with what he takes, and that’s always very nice to watch because if he can’t get over the struggle, he has to give it back to the owner in a matter of a few days, otherwise he’s stuck with it permanently.  
And giving something back is admitting defeat which Father hates. Greed has yet to actually see him be defeated by something instead of just hearing about it. So far the thing Father had to give back most were quirks because his body just couldn’t handle them. When he has to do that, he just kills the person afterwards, it’s easier.  
So if this love troubles him a lot… Maybe he’ll return it to Greed. And Greed wants it back. Because no matter what it is, he needs to have it. He needs to have everything the world has to offer!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this was a fun chapter with a fun Greedzawa date, huh? 😳🤭
> 
> I'm so sorry!! The next few chapters will all be pretty wild and have a bunch of violence, I'll warn before each chapter with the TWs of course  
> There will also be some manga spoilers soon, but again, I'll warn before the chapters where they come up, it's not too many, and not recent ones, but there are a few, so yeah
> 
> HERE SOMETHING LEE ASKED ME TO TELL YOU:  
> Father can get pregnant technically since he stole the reproductive organs from Izumi back in the day 👁️-👁️  
> When I came up with the drawback for Father's quirk and realised what it meant, I just had to tell Lee, and we couldn't tell anyone else, so I truly made them suffer on their own for quite a while with that cursed knowledge, but now you finally know too and we're not alone anymore!!
> 
> Also, thank you to the person who commented on chapter 28 under the name "." that it'd be funny if Greed and Lust met and she was like "Wait aren't those my shoes" because that inspired me to add that bit, and have her steal his shoes (her shoes back) so he's barefoot now until someone gives him new shoes
> 
> Next chapter: Greed is missing, Ling POV


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed is missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: claustrophobia, panic attack, mild emotional torture (idk if it can really be called that, but better safe than sorry), light mention of blood & past injury, cursing
> 
> Hello! I'm uploading this Monday instead of Tuesday because I'm uploading the Friday chapter on Thursday coz I wanna upload that one on my birthday as a gift to myself 🤭  
> So enjoy this long chapter, be aware of the TWs and thanks everyone once again for leaving comments, I was really happy about the feedback on the last chapter!
> 
> Stay safe everybody and have a nice day <3 (especially Lee, ily ❤️)
> 
> PS: We're in early December with the fic now in case anyone was confused because I think I mention snow

**Ling**

Ling is doing homework with Katsuki and Neito, hoping he can make them get along if they spend time together. Greed didn’t answer his last text about Ed’s christmas present, so he probably reached the café and is enjoying his date with Aizawa.  
“Pay attention,” Katsuki snaps and Ling looks at him.  
“What?”  
“I asked you three times already why you got that answer there, it’s clearly wrong.”  
“Huh? Oh.”  
Ling rubs his neck with a little grin.  
“Sorry, I was distracted. I’ll do it again.”

They’ve been brooding over homework for an hour, Neito and Katsuki only fighting a little, when they get interrupted by Aizawa entering the 1A living room.  
Ling jumps up, grinning brightly.  
“How was it?” he asks.  
“He didn’t show up.”  
The pen he’d been holding drops from Ling’s hand as panic fills him.  
“What?” he asks, voice cracking.  
“Chill, Smiley, maybe he chickened out.”  
“No!” Ling’s voice is hysterical. “He texted with me on the way, he was excited! I thought he arrived when he didn’t reply anymore.”  
Aizawa is staring at him.  
“When did he last reply?”  
“About ten minutes before five?”  
“I was there already, he couldn’t have reached the café.”

Ling is scared now, bad feeling growing stronger and stronger. Something happened. There’s no other explanation. Apparently the others are realising that too because Katsuki lets out a string of curses, and Neito is standing up, and paces back and forth.  
Aizawa is very pale.  
It’s not difficult to make a decision.

“I’m going out looking for him,” Ling announces and moves towards the door. Aizawa’s hand grabs his arm and holds him back.  
“No, you’re staying here.”  
“Not again!” Ling yells and his eyes are burning. “Greed did the same shit when Kat was missing. I can’t _do_ this again! Let me go look for him!”  
“Ling,” Neito starts but Ling spins around to him.  
“No! You don’t understand! You don’t understand how much he means to me! I can’t lose him, I can’t! I need him!”  
His whole body is shaking, and he’s trying to fight back the tears. Sure, he still has Kat, Denki, Ed and Neito. But Greed… He needs him. Greed is the one who saved him. He can’t do this without him.

Katsuki appears in front of him all of a sudden and pulls him into a hug.  
“I understand,” he mumbles, and Ling isn’t sure if he’s talking to him or himself. It doesn’t matter because the hug sends his last self-control out the window and he starts crying into Katsuki’s shoulder.

“He’ll be okay. He promised me he’d do his best to always come back to us,” Kat whispers in his ear and Ling tries to believe him, believe in Greed. But who knows what happened? Maybe his family found him… What would they do with him?

“I’ll contact some people I know for information, and ask Mic to keep an eye out on their patrol later. You stay here in case he comes back or contacts one of you, you hear me? No solo missions.”  
Ling turns his head so he can look at Aizawa. The man looks scared too, and that’s the only reason Ling doesn’t yell at him again. He also doesn’t agree with his words though, he just looks at him. The teacher seems to accept that because he turns around and storms away.  
Katsuki steps back a bit but keeps his hands on Ling’s shoulders.  
“Look at me,” he says sternly, and Ling does.  
“He’ll be okay. Now tell me when he left and when he stopped texting. We’re tracing his way.”  
Ling nods quickly and wipes his eyes.  
“Okay, yes.”  
“You gonna snitch or help us, copycat?”  
Neito crosses his arms.  
“Greed is the first person who truly believed in me. Of course I’m coming with you.”  
“Do we tell Denki?” Ling asks.  
“No. They’re playing video games with Hanta and Ashido, let them be in peace for a while longer.”

Ling nods. Kat is right. Ignorance is best for Denki right now.  
He squares his shoulders.  
“Let’s go before Aizawa comes back.”

\---- -

They walk every possible way from their apartment to the cat café. In the text messages are no clues which route he took, but they know him pretty well, so he probably took the shortest one through the side streets. They walk that way twice before Ling suddenly stops because he sees something out of the corner of his eye.  
“Oh no,” he mumbles and kneels down, picking up the pink hair tie. “Greed wanted to give this back to Aizawa because he forgot it in his pocket when he did Eri’s hair yesterday.”  
“So he was here,” Neito mumbles and looks around, probably to find more clues.  
Ling is too focused on the hair tie to help. Greed had that in his pocket, so he must have struggled against someone for it to fall out.

“Fucking shit!”  
Ling spins around at Katsuki’s exclamation and sees him hold a rock with dried blood on it. His stomach flips and he presses a hand to his mouth so he doesn’t throw up.  
Katsuki’s hand is clearly trembling, but Ling can’t even go over to him to help or support him.  
Luckily, they have Neito, who’s somehow managing to keep relatively calm, though his voice sounds strangled.

“We should put that back where you found it and call Aizawa.”

Ling watches as Katsuki nods but doesn’t lower the rock. Neito reaches out and pries it from his hand.  
“Show me where it was.”  
Kat does, still eerily silent. Neito puts the rock down and then looks at Katsuki for a moment before grabbing his hand.  
“Remember what you told Ling, explosion idiot. We have to trust Greed.”  
To Ling’s surprise, Katsuki doesn’t blow up Neito, he just pulls his hand away and straightens.  
“Right. Call Aizawa, Ling.”

He has his number saved since the patrol incident and dials the number, biting his lip until he finally picks up.  
“Yes?”  
“We found where he was taken. There’s a hair tie and a bloody rock, and-”  
“Slow down. You disobeyed my orders?”  
Ling doesn’t care about consequences right now. He still feels sick.  
“Yes. You need to come quickly and look at this.”  
There’s a beat of silence, then Aizawa curses.  
“Fine, I’ll be there, send me the address. Don’t touch anything and stay there for fuck’s sake.”

Then he hangs up. Ling lowers the phone and rubs his eyes.  
“He’s on his way. He says we should wait here.”  
“That sounds the most logical,” Neito mumbles and taps his foot on the ground until Katsuki snaps at him to stop.

Finally, a car parks next to them on the street and Aizawa climbs out.  
“Show me.” He’s tense. Katsuki points at the rock and the hero picks it up, turning even paler.  
“How do you know-”  
Ling holds out the hair tie. It’s pretty distinct with the pink and blue stripes and the small plastic version of Eri’s horn glued to it. Yaomomo made Eri a bunch of customised hair ties. Aizawa recognises it and his lips press together tightly.  
“Get in the car.”  
“But-”  
“Get in the car.” His voice doesn’t allow any argument, so Ling bites his lip and climbs onto the backseat of the car. Neito and Katsuki follow and sit on each side of him. They wait while Aizawa takes another look around and then he drives them back to school.  
“I should ground all three of you,” he says after a moment.  
Katsuki looks ready to fight, and for once Neito seems to be on his side, but the teacher continues.  
“But I understand what you’re feeling, so I won’t. If you work with me from now on instead of on your own.”  
“Yes,” Ling says immediately, not even thinking about it. “We’ll work with you, promise. Just let us help, please.”  
“I need you to tell me everything you know about Greed’s family. It’s likely that they’re behind this. Maybe someone else, but it’s the easiest place to start at.”

Ling and Katsuki share a glance. They both have known Greed for a while, but neither of them knows much about his family.  
“He barely talks about them. I know he stole his one pair of shoes from his sister, and that he has a lot of brothers too. But he only ever called one by name.”  
“Envy,” Aizawa guesses. Ling nods.  
“He left him even though they were close. He never really explained-”  
“Because he was scared Envy would rat him out to their father,” Katsuki interrupts, and Ling is taken aback, and for a moment almost jealous that Kat knows something about Greed that he doesn’t know.  
“But he still cares about Envy and from what little he told me, I doubt Envy is behind that because he’s with the League of Villains, and they don’t really have use for him,” Aizawa says slowly.  
Ling nods.  
“So his fear for his father was stronger than the need to protect his brother. So his father has to be…”  
“Awful,” Neito finishes quietly, staring at his hands. Ling puts a hand on his and their fingers intertwine. Holding on to each other helps, so Ling also grabs one of Kat’s hands. He doesn’t protest.

“We really don’t know more.”  
“He has connections to criminals. He talked to a lot of them when trying to find me. He probably knew them through his father, so maybe-”  
“His father found him because he talked to those people,” Aizawa finishes for Katsuki and Ling can see him nodding.  
“Okay, I’ll try to figure something out. You three should explain everything to Denki for now. I saw them on the way to the parking lot and they asked about you. I told them you’d explain later.”

They drive the rest of the way in silence. When they’re almost there, Neito exclaims:  
“Seven deadly sins!”

Ling frowns and turns to him.  
“What?”  
“Greed, Envy!” Neito says. “I always thought those are weird names, but what do they have in common?”  
“They’re sins,” Ling mumbles. “His siblings!”  
“Are most likely named after the other sins,” Aizawa is nodding, knuckles white with how tightly he’s grabbing the steering wheel. “Greed was worried his father did something to him and his siblings, somehow manipulated them, experimented on them. And he was really bad with money in the beginning, always trying to get more.”  
“He was greedy,” Katsuki mumbles. “So his siblings are wrath, pride, lust, gluttony and sloth. And Envy, who we know doesn’t work with the others.”  
“That’s a good lead.” Aizawa sounds like he’s buzzing with the need to act. Ling is feeling the same way.  
“I’ll ask around with heroes if they heard of criminals named after the seven deadly sins. Maybe we can find a lead.”

That’s a start, and it calms Ling’s nerves a little bit. They’re going to find Greed. If they had just wanted to kill him, they would have done so in the alley. They just knocked him out with the rock and transported him. So there’s still time. It will be okay.

\---- -

The next couple of days are tense but quiet. They try to find leads, Ling and the others call and text Greed, and try to find out more about his family.  
Ling briefly considers trying to find the League to talk to Envy, but Neito and Katsuki talk him out of it. Denki is trying their best to help too, but they’re the most affected by all this along with Ling. Maybe it’s because they’ve been with him the longest. Maybe it’s just that Neito and Katsuki can hide it better.

Someone who they didn’t expect to be this affected is Ed. He insists on skipping school to stay at UA and help with research and just be there with the others. Ling appreciates it even though he doesn’t quite understand.

He asks Ed about it the third night after Greed’s disappearance as they’re sitting on Katsuki’s balcony, Denki, Sero and Kat asleep in Kat’s bed.  
Aizawa is pretty much letting them do what they want with the sleeping situation by now. The teacher looks like he’s barely sleeping either.

“I didn’t expect you to care so much about Greed,” Ling mumbles, his head leaning against Ed’s.  
“Of course I care… He’s important to you and the others, and he was always nice to me… My father doesn’t suck, but I’d still trade him for Greed any day, honestly.”  
Ling chuckles a bit.  
“Who wouldn’t? Greed is amazing…”  
“Mhm,” Ed agrees. “Kind of weird, but in a good way. And since that patrol…”  
He sighs and grabs Ling’s hands.  
“I saw the wounds up close. I had my arms under him when I broke that pole, and there was so much blood… I just want him to be okay.”  
“Me too…”

\---- -

The next morning, day four, everyone is pretty quiet. Nobody bats an eye at the fact that him, Denki, Sero and Ed are all coming out of Katsuki’s room, or that Kirishima gives Denki and Katsuki a long hug before walking into the kitchen with them to help with breakfast.  
Neito shows up too, and Katsuki wordlessly puts a plate down for him at the table. They’re all Greed’s kids, they have to stick together, so it doesn’t matter if Katsuki hates Ling’s classmate, he’s going to make sure he’s eating. Ling is really glad that they’re not fighting right now.

It’s generally a weird atmosphere around the dorm. Everyone is rather quiet, most probably to be considerate of them, but a whole bunch of other students seem to worry too.  
Ling knew that Greed was overall pretty well liked for his attitude, training with class 1A a few times (and class B once) and just being around a lot, but he’s still kind of surprised to see the extent of it.  
Especially the girls seem to be really worried and somber, even Ashido who is usually rather bubbly. They just really have to find him soon, then everyone can go back to normal.

Additionally to everyone’s worry, there’s this feeling of the calm before a storm. Something is coming, something big, Ling is sure of it, but he can’t pinpoint what it is or when it’s going to happen. All he can do is eat breakfast and listen to the quiet conversations around them, and wait.

\---- -

Ling has been feeling weird the whole day, barely able to focus on class, so when the alarm sounds, he’s not surprised. The teacher informs them that the school is under an attack by villains and that they’re to remain calm and in the classroom for now, but then Ling looks out the window and sees a man with long blond hair and a beard, and around him figures with black hair. One is familiar and before someone can stop him, he’s out the classroom door, dashing down the hallway, footsteps close behind him.  
His guess that that’s Neito is confirmed when he catches up with him around a corner and they both run into Aizawa.  
“Not you two as well,” he growls. Obviously he’s been chasing after someone, most likely Katsuki and Denki.  
They’re interrupted by screams, and the hallway fills with people, probably villains working with the blond guy who Ling guesses is Greed’s father.  
Aizawa curses and catches the arm of a student running past.  
“Go to the principal’s office and use the intercom. Tell everyone they’re allowed to fight back, but to rather hide.”  
The kid nods and then runs off. The message is announced in the whole school only a minute later. Fast kid.  
Ling is buzzing with energy.  
“Where’s Ed?”  
“He was sitting with Katsuki in class and ran out with him and Denki, I’m pretty sure that by now others followed them too,” Aizawa says, seemingly trying to come up with a plan.  
“Greed is outside, we have to help him.”  
“We don’t know how dangerous-”  
“Aizawa sensei, at least three students are about to confront them, even if it is dangerous, we have to help,” Neito says, sounding calm, but Ling knows he’s also nervous.

“Fine. But stick close to me.”

\---- -

It’s chaos. There are smaller villains, but then there’s the ones that have this deep black hair and Ling feels like they have the same aura Greed had in the beginning. They have to be his siblings, so they’re most likely pretty dangerous.  
They pass Katsuki and Ed fighting one of those siblings, a black haired man in a vest who seems to be controlling shadows. Just as Neito and Ling want to go help, Sero and Kirishima show up and help them. Ling looks at Aizawa who seems pained because he can’t help all students at once, so Ling grabs his arm and pulls him further. If they can get Greed they’ll have another person to help them fight, someone who knows their opponents very well.  
Neito gets separated from them when they see Denki trying to hold their own against two women in the hallway near the entrance. Neito calls that they’ll be fine and to go check on Greed.

So it’s only him and Aizawa who burst through the front door. There’s just the blond man with Greed now right in front of the entrance.  
In the distance between some trees Ling sees two of his classmates, Tsuburaba and Awase fighting a young, rather round man with a bald head, and next to the school building a bit to the left is Mic going up against the only woman among Greed’s siblings.

“Greed!” Ling calls, focusing back on the man who looks pale and is barefoot, but unharmed. But then again, any bruises he gets heal immediately, so they can’t tell what they did to him.  
The blond man smiles.  
“How nice of you to greet us. Are you one of the teachers?”  
“Yes, what do you want?” Aizawa grits out.  
“I am here to collect my children.”  
“What?” Ling asks confused.  
“I am your Father now, boy. You and your classmates will come with me, and then I will shape you how I see fit. Thanks to my new quirk I don’t even need help anymore.”  
What a fucking creep. Why is Greed just standing there next to him?  
“Greed, you have to help us, Katsuki and Ed are fighting one of your brothers. Your siblings are strong, right? We need your help, please.”

There’s no warmth in Greed’s eyes, only one single emotion stands out: Fear.  
“I don’t know what you want from me or who you are. Are you Envy?”  
“What?” Ling stares at him. “No. It’s me, Ling! What’s wrong?”  
“Greed,” Aizawa now tries too. “We could really use your help. There’s a lot of students in danger. And Eri is somewhere with Togata. You need to help me, do you understand?”  
“I don’t know you, so stop talking to me like I do!” Greed snaps, shield rising. He feels threatened. He feels _threatened_ by them?

“What did you do to him?” Aizawa snarls and Ling sees that he activated his quirk and is looking at the blond guy. Father. He’s just going to call him that.  
“Oh, I just took a little something from him.”  
“Took what?” Ling asks and takes a step forward. Aizawa holds him back with a hand on his shoulder.  
“You can drop your quirk, I’m not using mine right now. It’s very convenient, you know? When I look at people, I see what’s most important to them, and then I can take it away. And my son-”  
Greed flinches at the word.  
“He had so much love in him, and he thought he could be human with that love. It’s pathetic, really.”  
“So you took what, his ability to feel love?” Ling is staring at him.  
Father nods, bone-chilling smile on his lips.  
“And with it all memories of all people he ever loved.”

“You bastard!” Ling yells and tries to shake off Aizawa, but his grip tightens.  
“Greed, listen to me,” Aizawa says, voice sounding pained. “You might not remember us, or how you used to feel about us, but you hate your father, don’t you? So work with us, we can defeat him, together.”  
Father reaches out and grabs Greed’s neck. Ling can see that it’s a loose grip, but Greed’s eyes show panic.  
“Go on, fight those two. Bring me the boy alive and kill the man. You know what happens if you disobey me.”

Ling’s stomach flips as Greed nods and raises his shield. His eyes are desperate, like he doesn’t want to do this but doesn’t have a choice. What did Father mean, what would happen if he disobeyed?  
Greed’s shield drops again and Ling looks at Aizawa who’s using his quirk.  
“Go,” he tells Ling. “I will handle this.”  
“No! He’s my dad!”  
“Ling Yao-”  
Before Aizawa can continue he’s stumbling backwards with the force of Greed’s punch to his stomach, but his eyes stay open, not allowing him to use his claws.  
“Greed, stop,” Ling begs. “We can help you!”  
“You can’t!” He doesn’t even sound like himself. There’s so many emotions in his voice, but no kind one.

Desperate, Ling reaches out and grabs Greed’s hand, trying to merge them so he can make him stop fighting, but it needs to be a two way bond, so the only thing Greed does is slap him across the face, sending him to his knees. Ling presses a hand to his cheek and stares up at him as Greed is attacking Aizawa again.  
This is Father’s fault. They need to reverse his quirk, but how? Maybe if he managed to go fetch Neito… But he can’t leave Aizawa alone with Greed, what if-  
Aizawa grunts and Ling sees that Greed punched him in the face hard enough to make his nose bleed. The capture weapon wraps around Greed and he promptly starts screaming bloody murder.  
The hand on the neck, the fear of being tied up with something… Puzzle pieces are floating in Ling’s head, not quite connecting.  
Aizawa seems shocked and drops his weapon, leaving Greed open to attack him again, but he doesn’t. He’s standing there, panting, maybe fighting off a panic attack.

“Greed,” Father says slowly, voice kind of shaky. “Why did you stop? Do you want me to-”  
Greed jumps towards Aizawa with his claws out, and Ling can see that the teacher won’t manage to get out of the way in time, so he jumps and kicks Greed’s legs out from underneath him harshly, sending him falling to the floor.  
“Please stop,” Aizawa says, voice kind. How he can talk like this while Greed is trying to kill him is beyond Ling. Sure, Greed isn’t being himself, but Ling would be more scared in his place.  
“Let me help you.”  
“You can’t,” Greed chokes out. “You can’t help me! I don’t even know you!”

The sound of a shaky breath being drawn distracts Ling from the two of them and he looks at Father who- who is fighting tears?  
Ling studies him, his three arms. He has an extra arm, but it looks smaller than the other arms. What if that’s not his own? What if he took that from someone?  
With a start, he thinks of Ed. He didn’t tell him what happened to his arm, just that he lost it the same day their mother died. So what if it was this guy? Would that be too much of a coincidence?  
Does that mean he keeps the things he takes away? Does that mean Greed’s love is still there? They can get it and his memories back?  
But how? And what does the emotional struggle on the guy’s face mean? Is he struggling with Greed’s emotions?  
He’s ripped from his thoughts at Greed shouting again. It seems like Aizawa tried to use his capture weapon again, but apparently he can’t bear hearing Greed being in emotional distress.  
And it seems like Father is starting to have issues with it as well.  
“Stop!” he chokes out, pressing a hand to his chest. “He’s my son!”  
Ling frowns and locks eyes with Aizawa. The teacher looks pained and nods. Ling knows what they have to do.  
Aizawa uses his weapon again and wraps it around Greed. The screaming tears at Ling’s heart, but he bites down on his lip as hard as he can, and then, finally, after what feels like hours, Father yells.

“Stop! I can’t take it anymore! Take it back! I don’t want it! Take your emotions back!”

He reaches his hand towards Greed and the man goes rigid, mouth open in a silent shout. Then, he slumps and Aizawa moves forward and catches him, sinking to the floor with him in his arms. Ling rushes towards them as well and grabs Greed’s hand, not caring if Greed hurts him in his confusion.  
“Hey kid,” Greed whispers and cracks an eye open, squeezing his hand back.  
Ling holds back a sob and smiles wobbly.  
“Hey, Greed. I’m glad you’re back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's back, people! Additional trauma for everybody because we love to see it  
> I'm really sorry I'm hurting them and you so much and that it's by far not the end of it 😔❤️
> 
> Next chapter: the fight really starts
> 
> PS: I struggled a bit with all of the fighting and writing that in a way that's engaging, mostly realistic and not repetitive, but idk if I succeeded, so I hope you can be kind with me if the fighting isn't the best written stuff, it was just necessary for this fic and I tried my best!


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed gets some answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cursing
> 
> Good day, a little shorter one again after the last two were longer, but with a little surprise and some new info  
> One day early because I wanted to upload this on my birthday!  
> Enjoy!
> 
> PS: I hope all you from America are safe, as a European I really don't understand your voting system, but I'm nervous too

Greed’s head hurts, probably from getting his memories and feelings back, but he ignores it. There’s a more pressing matter.  
“Ling… I hit you…”  
“You weren’t your whole self,” Ling mumbles and smiles a little. “It’s okay, it didn’t even hurt that much.”  
Still feeling guilty, Greed reaches out and touches his cheek that’s still red. The kid doesn’t flinch, his eyes showing trust. It tugs on his heartstrings. How does he deserve such a wonderful child in his life?  
“Want to merge to heal it?”  
Ling shakes his head.  
“There’s no time. We have to help the others.”

Greed forces himself to focus. Right. They’re in the middle of a fight. His eyes find Aizawa’s who has been sitting next to them this whole time, arms still around Greed, holding him.  
“How bad is it?”  
“Ectoplasm and Vlad King aren’t here because they’re on a school trip with class 2A and 2B. Other than that we have a bunch of teachers and the students fighting back. I hope someone called for help by now.”  
Nodding, Greed moves out of Aizawa’s arms and gets up. He looks at Ling, then at Aizawa who are now standing next to him.  
“Okay. You need to see where you can help. Don’t underestimate my siblings, they all have healing quirks, some more, some less, and their other quirk. I’ll take care of Father.”  
Ling opens his mouth to protest, but Greed shakes his head.  
“Listen to me. Just this once no arguments, okay?”  
The boy’s mouth closes again. Greed reaches out and grabs Aizawa’s hand.  
“Be careful,” he begs quietly. “I love you so much… I’m sorry I hurt you, I shouldn’t have done that, I wasn’t myself, I’m… I’m sorry.”  
A whole bunch of different emotions cross Aizawa’s face, then he grabs Greed’s face and smashes their lips together in a bruising kiss.

For a second, Greed only feels the warm pressure and tries to process it, then his brain catches up and his hands move, gripping Aizawa’s shirt tightly. He pulls him closer until their chests are pressed up against each other, and he can’t help the throaty sound he makes.  
This has been a long time coming, and it may not be the right moment, but it _feels_ right.  
Greed’s stomach twists and he tilts his head to get a better angle, growing more frantic and desperate. This could be the last time they can kiss for all they know, they might not make it out of here.  
It would kill Greed if he didn’t pour all his emotions into at least this one kiss. His hands move from Aizawa’s chest around his neck, pulling him closer until they feel like they’re one person. Aizawa gasps quietly as Greed buries his fingers in his hair, and Greed wishes they had more time. But they don’t, and like a switch has been flipped, he becomes acutely aware of their surroundings again, fighting noises mostly, but also general voices and shouts. They can’t have been kissing for more than a few seconds, but it feels like hours passed.  
They break apart, pausing inches from each other, just breathing for a moment, eyes locked.  
“In case we don’t make it,” Aizawa whispers, “I love you more than I ever thought I could love again. I’m so sorry I had to bind you, hearing you scream like that…”  
“Don’t feel guilty. I know why you had to,” Greed whispers. He wants to keep talking, promise him that they’ll make it, but he knows he can’t. So, he just presses his lips to Aizawa’s for a moment again before fully stepping away.  
“Be careful. There’s so much you still don’t know about me, but I’m ready to tell you everything.”  
“You do owe me a new first date after being kidnapped before the last one.” Aizawa grins a little, probably to hide how worried he is, and how guilty he still feels. Greed grins back.  
“Fine. Now go, I think Mic needs help against Lust.”

Aizawa nods and without looking back, he spins around and runs to help his friend. Greed turns to Ling who looks an odd mix of relieved and disgusted.  
“Yeah, I did not like witnessing that, but at least you finally kissed.”  
Greed doesn’t have time to reply because Father seems to have recovered from using his quirk (he gets a bad headache when he uses it multiple times a day so he apparently used it already today) and is approaching them. He snaps up his shield and plants himself in front of Ling. He’s going to protect that kid with his life if he has to. Nobody is laying a finger on his son.

There’s still that awful fear of Father in his chest, but his love and need to protect those he loves is stronger.  
He stands his ground even as Father grins and taps his own throat, clearly threatening him. A hand slips in his despite his claws, and Greed briefly looks over at Ling.  
“I told you to leave,” he mumbles, focusing back on Father.  
“And I can tell you’re scared, so I’m staying.”

“I see you collected your own children.”  
“I didn’t collect him,” Greed snaps. “I love him, I’m being a good father, no thanks to you.”  
“Now that’s adorable. You actually think you can be a father? You don’t have the discipline. You only keep him and the others around because you desire everything the world has to offer. You can’t deny your nature, Greed. You’re named after it.”  
He balls his free hand to a fist, glaring at the man a few feet away from them.

“I finally want to know. What did you do to us? Why do we have these weird quirks?”  
“I shaped you the way I wanted you to be.”  
“How? And what does that make us? What did you _do_?! Tell me!”  
Father smiles coldly, and Greed wants to rip his throat out, but he has to stay next to Ling, keep him safe.  
“I perfected you and your siblings, just like I will perfect every child in this school to create the ideal army.”  
Greed moves Ling some more behind him so Father can’t look at him anymore. He has to lock eyes for a moment to see what’s most important to someone, then he can take it away from them just by seeing them, no need to lock eyes anymore.  
“No. I want a solid answer, what did you do?”  
“I don’t owe you an explanation.”  
“Yes you do, fucking asshole! You ruined my life! You ruined all our lives! Envy and Gluttony deserved a proper childhood! _I_ deserved one!”  
“Are you done with your little temper tantrum?”

The condescending and patronising tone Father uses is making Greed’s blood boil with hot red anger, overpowering the fear.  
“I want to know who I am! What I am!.”  
“You’re one of my weapons.”  
“No. No, I’m not!” Ling’s hand in his is the only thing keeping him grounded right now.  
“Oh Greed, what would be the use of knowing who you used to be? Your parents are dead. You have no family left, you’re not the same child I got all those years ago.”  
“What did you do to us?” Greed’s chest is whirling with anger and pain and fear. “What did you do? What are we? Are we even human anymore?”  
“You don’t want to be human. Don’t you see? I made you something better. I took All for One’s ideas and perfected them! You all have new quirks, you’re strong, I shaped your personalities. You’re the perfect soldiers, not some strong but stupid Nomu.”

Greed stares at him blankly. He doesn’t understand most of what he said except for one thing: They’re not human. They’re… something. They’re monsters created to help Father conquer the world.

“I’m going to kill you.”  
“I’m your creator, you need me.”  
“I already have everything I need, thank you.” He tries to pull his hand from Ling’s, but the kid is holding on tightly.  
“I need my hand, kid,” he hisses.  
“Greed, wait. Something is wrong.”  
“What?”  
“Something about him feels wrong. I was too distracted to notice, but… he feels… powerful.”  
Greed chews on his lip, studying Father. He remembers him saying he’d have to visit Tartarus to get something. Did he steal an inmate’s quirk?

“You can feel it, don’t you?” Father interrupts them, smile on his lips. His third arm strokes his beard. Ling’s hand tightens on Greed’s, and he has a horrible thought. But now is not the time to wonder who that arm belonged to.  
“I finally took what was most important to All For One. He was so slow with his process anyways. I gave him Envy and he didn’t use him. I was about to give him Gluttony too, but then he got arrested. So I kept him. I plan on getting Envy back too, of course. Maybe with All For One’s quirk I can even convince his little League to join me.”

“Not gonna happen,” a new voice says and Greed looks over at a man with purple scars and black hair, a humourless grin on his face. “I’m never letting Envy near you ever again.”  
“Who are you?” Greed asks.  
“Dabi. Pleased to meet you. You must be the brother. Envy talked a lot about you. We’re here to help, believe it or not. See you around, I have to go find someone.”

And with that, the guy is running towards the building. Greed blinks and sees more people have arrived. Is this the League of Villains? Here to help them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My birthday gift to you all: the Greedzawa kiss
> 
> Here's an apology to Bitters who joked that it'd take Greedzawa another 30k words to kiss after chapter 30, but it actually took them about 40k more words, I am truly sorry I made you all wait through this intense slow burn 🤭  
> I hope it was worth it, I've never been the best at writing kissing scenes, but I tried my hardest and even did some research on how to write them properly, so it'd be worth it for waiting so long 🥺
> 
> Next chapter: the fight from some different POVs
> 
> PS: A wonderful day to Lee who has to read all of these chapters first to tell me if the plot and pacing is fine and helps me in many more ways, I truly appreciate your help all the time ❤️❤️


	43. League of Villains to the Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The League arrives to help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood, fire, stab wound, cursing  
> Manga Spoiler Warning: vague, concerning Hawks & the League
> 
> Three different POVs, all marked, enjoy!
> 
> ATTENTION BEFORE YOU READ!!!  
> My bestest, dearest friend Lee wrote a YueSing oneshot for my birthday which is set in this universe  
> It's set in chapter 55/56 of this story, but it doesn't spoil, just hints on some things, so if you want you can go read that, and you should because it's absolutely amazing and Lee deserves all the love for it. You can read it even if you don't know Banana Fish because it doesn't contain any spoilers for the manga/anime, and the characters are quickly understood too because they're written incredibly well and in character  
> I could gush about this forever but I'll stop now  
> It's linked at the end of the chapter as Works Inspired by this one, but here's the link too
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27444073
> 
> Give it a read and definitely leave Kudos and a Comment because Lee deserves the world

**Dabi**

When he reaches the entrance to the building, Dabi looks over his shoulder to check on the others before going inside. Magne, Toga and Twice are fighting a bald guy (Gluttony?) and two other guys with two students, Sako is running to help two more children, that Aizawa guy and Present Mic. He doesn’t have time to worry about them though, he needs to find his brother and make sure he’s okay. He doesn’t particularly care that he’s being selfish. He worries about the whole League, of course, especially Envy, but Shouto is his number one priority right now.

Dabi makes his way past two blond kids who seem to be doing alright on their own, and rushes down a hallway, until he almost slips on ice and knows he’s at the right spot.  
Around the corner, he sees Shouto and the green-haired brat, Midoriya, fight a large muscular man with long black hair, who seems almost bored. For a moment, Dabi wonders what his quirk is, then the guy moves so fast his eyes can’t track him, and he smashes into Shouto, sending him flying backwards.  
Without thinking, Dabi moves and collides with his brother, keeping him from smashing into the wall.

“Not you too!” Shouto grits out, and instead of wasting time to explain, Dabi picks himself up from the floor and attacks the fast guy, Sloth. Envy briefed them on all his siblings and their quirks. According to him, Sloth has medium healing along with his speed. So if Dabi fries him good enough…  
He makes sure the kids are behind him and then he unleashes his fire at the guy. The pained grunts confuse him. The guy should be screaming in pain, Dabi knows what this feels like. But then something smashes into him and the breath is knocked out of him as he tumbles backwards. Sloth heals in front of his eyes. Shit. So medium healing is pretty damn good. He feels sorry for whoever is fighting Pride who’s the only one along with Greed who has full healing powers.

“Dabi,” Midoriya says, staring at him. “You’re helping us.”  
Dabi smirks and shakes out his arms.  
“Smart kid. Now get out of the way.”  
Midoriya jumps aside and Dabi uses his fire on Sloth again.  
“His healing is at medium power, he can’t control his directions once he starts running, it’s just a straight line until he stops again,” he calls. “So jump out of the way and he won’t get to you.”  
“You know about my quirk? How annoying. What a pain.” Sloth talks slowly, and it’s getting on Dabi’s nerves.  
“Yes, Envy told us everything we need to know so we can kill you. You weren’t the one who directly hurt him. But you didn’t help him either. So I don’t feel like sparing your life.”  
He jumps to the side as Sloth barrels towards him.  
“I sometimes train with someone really fast, so you won’t hit me again.”

He absently notices that Shouto keeps helping from a distance, making the floor slippery when Sloth runs, and Midoriya is right next to him, probably ready to push them out of the way in case Sloth gets too close. Dabi almost smiles, eyes burning. He can’t cry, and he’s glad about it. His baby brother has friends who protect him.

Dabi knows he made a mistake getting distracted when he sees Sloth advancing, too close for him to get out of the way, but then someone hits him from the side, arms wrapping around him, and he hears the familiar sound of wings flapping.  
“You idiot,” he snarls when Hawks sets him back down a few feet away. “You can’t do that in public!”  
Hawks is scowling.  
“He would have smashed you in the wall and cracked your head.”  
“There’s students around, stop talking to me, you’re compromising everything.”

Gladly their chat gets interrupted by a gust of wind. Midoriya hit Sloth good in the head and red sparks indicate that he’s healing.  
Hawks scoffs.  
“Fine, next time I’ll let him kill you.” Then he swoops forward, sharpened feather in hand while his other feathers shoot off down the hallway probably to help in other places.  
Dabi rolls his eyes and then tries to keep his fire a little more contained so he doesn’t fry anyone on accident.

**Edward**

Ed jumps to the side, out of the path of a shadow spike, and rolls back to his feet, arms raised in front of his chest.  
“Out of the way!” he calls, claps, and presses his palms to the wall behind himself, making it shoot forward to the man. The stone pillars hit him hard, but red lightning sparks and he smirks.  
“Weak.”  
Another shadow spike shoots forward and Ed isn’t fast enough. Someone jumps in front of him and there’s a metallic sound of it hitting Tetsutetsu’s hardened body.  
“Thanks,” Ed gasps, and the boy grins strained.  
“No problem, bro. Watch out.”  
He pulls him out of the line of the sonic blast of one of the other villains they’re up against.

Rubbing his face because of the close calls, Ed looks at the others who are in this part of the hallway with him. There’s Tetsutetsu of course, Sero, Kirishima and Katsuki. They’re five against three, so it should look better than it does, but this shadow guy’s quirk is insane, and he heals as fast as Greed. The other two aren’t weak either, one screams sonic blasts and the other shoots lasers from their eyes.  
Ed is getting out of breath. At least the shadow spikes can’t pierce through Kirishima and Tetsutetsu when their quirks are activated, so they can save them when necessary.  
Another explosion shakes the floor, and Ed rushes over to Katsuki to help him.  
“Fucking guy heals even when I blow his limbs off!” he yells.  
“I think we have to go for the kill with them, I doubt we can incapacitate at least that one with his healing.”  
“We’re not supposed to kill,” Kirishima yells back. “They’re not trying to kill us either!”  
“Just seriously injure so you stop fighting,” shadow guy confirms, and Ed shoves Katsuki to the floor out of the way of a large spike, falling on top of him.  
“Be careful, fuck.”

“Kirishima!” Sero yells and Ed can see that only his tape saved the boy who had stopped using his quirk for a moment, from the laser eyes. They don’t even know if they’d hurt him with his skin hardened, and Ed for one does not want to test it.

“We need to split up to focus better,” Tetsutetsu says. “I’ll fight the sonic guy, he hit me a few times with the blast while my quirk was up and I didn’t feel anything.”  
“I’ll take laser eyes,” Sero decides. “You three focus on shadow guy.”  
“My name is Pride! I am the best of my siblings, so why do you think some teenagers could resist me? I will capture all of you and Father will be proud of me!”  
Ed frowns. So that guy has issues.  
Before he can focus again, shadows wrap around his ankles and then he’s hanging upside down and Katsuki is reaching for his hands.  
“Hey, let him down!”  
“Gladly.”  
With dizzying speed, Ed is thrown and crashes into Katsuki’s chest, sending them both to the floor again.  
“Will you stop falling on top of me?” he snaps and gets up, pulling Ed to his feet too.  
“That wasn’t my fault!”  
“Focus!” Kirishima yells, trying to get closer to Pride to get a direct hit that isn’t to the many shadow limbs.

Ed nods and concentrates. He pulls a stone weapon out of the wall and then starts hitting the shadows to get to their source too.  
“How does his quirk even work? Is he making these shadows?”  
“I think they vanished whenever Katsuki blew some of his limbs off,” Kirishima answers, pulling him out of the way.  
“Because of limb loss or light?” Ed wonders quietly. “Hey, Kat, how big of an explosion can you make?”  
“Bigger than you think, metal arm!”  
Ed shares a look with Kirishima and nods.  
“Watch out!” he yells to Sero and Tetsutetsu, and Kirishima’s arms wrap around Ed and he shields him with his body.  
“Prove it, Blasty!” Ed yells and then there’s a loud boom and Ed doesn’t have time to close his eyes because he pushes away from Kirishima the second the heat starts to lessen and he stabs the stone pole into Pride’s chest, then he claps his hands and presses them to the floor, liquifying it so Pride sinks into it and immediately hardening it again when he’s in the ground up to his neck.

“We did it!” he calls, a big smile on his face as he turns to Katsuki who’s grinning proudly. Then his eyes widen and he moves forward. Ed blinks and he thinks he knows what’s going to happen in the next second. He’s strangely calm, just one thought in his mind: He can’t let Katsuki reach him and take that hit for him. So, in the split second he has, he moves backwards, towards the danger. If anyone gets stabbed today, it’s him, not his friends.  
Then he gasps and looks down at his chest, shadow sticking out of him.  
Katsuki grabs him and Ed’s legs give in.  
“Make a dome above his head,” Kirishima says suddenly and Ed realises that even inside the ground Pride can still fight, and now he’s focused on Kirishima while him and Katsuki are distracted.  
So, ignoring his pain, Ed turns on the floor and claps his hands, raising the ground around Pride’s head and closing the dome around it, locking him in the dark, unable to use shadows outside of it anymore.

The shadow in his chest dissolves, leaving blood gushing out, and he laughs weakly.  
“Look at that, just like Greed, only without the healing.”  
Katsuki presses his hands to it and his eyes are wide open and full of worry.  
“Hey, calm down, just a scratch,” Ed jokes. He needs humour right now because the pain is going to make him scream otherwise. This is almost as painful as having his nerves connected to the prosthetic arm.  
“Shut up, you stupid idiot!” Katsuki snaps, and Ed realises that yeah, he’s probably not a fan of humour as a coping mechanism.  
“Then do something,” Ed slurs, feeling warm blood on his back where the entrance hole is. He’ll be lying in a puddle of his own blood soon.  
There’s grunts, and then Sero falls down next to them and moves his hands over Ed’s chest helplessly.  
“I could try to tape it?”  
Ed stares at Sero, then at Katsuki, then at Katsuki’s hands. The boy follows his eyes and shakes his head violently.  
“I don’t have enough control.”  
“What? What are you talking about?”  
“Ed wants me to cauterise the wounds.”  
Katsuki looks like he’s going to be sick, but Ed does not have time for this shit.

“Fucking do it you fucking coward,” he snaps. “We don’t have time to argue, I don’t plan on dying today!”  
It’s a low blow to call him a coward and he knows it, but he needs Katsuki to focus.  
“Fuck!” the boy yells and then determination settles in his eyes.  
“Fine. Hanta, hold him down. If I blow you up this is your own fucking fault.”

Ed smiles a bit and makes kissy noises.  
“I trust you.”  
Katsuki’s face is pained, then he closes his eyes for a moment, breathes and opens them again. This will hurt.

The cocky remark dies on Ed’s tongue as heat hits his chest.  
His mouth opens and he screams in pain until he passes out.  
The last thing he hears is Katsuki’s trembling voice.  
“I’ll find Recovery Girl, you help the other two.”

**Riza**

Riza and Roy left as soon as they got the message from Fuery while on patrol: UA is under attack and they’re asking for backup.  
Roy forbids Fuery and Jean to join until they know what exactly is going on, so Fuery sends two of his friends with them. They worked with them before, but it’s been a while. They look different somehow, like time changed them.  
Meds is more focused and serious than last time, and Ink… Well, on second thought, Ink didn’t change one bit.  
They reach UA in record time, and Roy jumps out of the car, hitting his head but continuing on as if it didn’t happen. Riza slams the car door closed and hurries after him, starting to describe their surroundings. Meds and Ink are following close behind. The gate is open, alarm still blaring. Nobody had time to shut it off, probably.

Riza looks around and describes the people she sees. It looks like it’s mostly under control out front, four people are just standing around doing nothing, three of them talking.

“I’ll go around the building and look for someone who needs help,” Meds says and without waiting for an answer, pulls out her knife and hurries off. Ink looks after her for a moment before they straighten up.  
“I’ll go the other way. Kain will keep you updated on my status.”  
_”I will. I’ve got you, Mustang and Meds registered, one and a half hours left.”_

Riza nods.  
“Go, we’ll see where we’re needed.”  
She continues giving Roy descriptions of everything, trying to be as accurate as possible.  
“We don’t know what they want or who they are exactly, but outside things seem mostly under control,” Roy says, updating Fuery. “Stand by while we gather info.”  
They approach the people standing around. One is blond with a beard, one has black hair and seems angry. Behind him is a boy and Riza realises that he’s hiding. So maybe they’re not just standing around.  
She informs Roy of this quietly as they walk closer.

“I will rip your throat out and watch you die!” the dark haired man with the teen yells. “You don’t get to threaten my kids!”

“What’s the plan?” Riza asks quietly.  
“Watch and gather info.”  
“We have to help.”  
“We don’t know who-”

“I’m not threatening him, I’m merely offering him to take your place by my side. I’d leave Greed alone, child. You can work for me instead.”

Roy stiffens beside her.  
“That voice.”  
With a start, Riza’s eyes widen and she looks more closely at the blond man. He’s the one they fought, the one who took Roy’s sight.  
Her hand reaches out on her own, grabbing Roy’s arm.  
“Maybe we should-”  
“No. We’re not leaving. If he’s here, then the other bastard is too.”  
“We’re not here for revenge,” Riza snaps, getting angry. “We’re here to help protect students. Hughes wouldn’t want you to-”

Before she can finish, there’s a shout from the guy with the kid.

“No!”  
Riza watches with wide eyes as the boy collapses and the guy catches him.  
“What did you do? Give it back to him!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cursive is Kain speaking to them with his quirk, in case you forgot about it, he can form a telepathic link with people and communicate with them for a while over a distance 
> 
> Meds (she/her) is my MHA OC, Ink (they/them) is Lee's, they have little cameos in this fic and we'll find out a little more about them in following chapters, so don't worry if you're confused!
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter with the different POVs!  
> Next chapter: the Denki & Monoma team-up we all need
> 
> Also, yes... I'm sorry about that cliffhanger (multiple cliffhangers??), I'm afraid you'll have to wait a week for that resolution 😔❤️  
> I tried not to add too many cruel cliffhangers, but I just couldn't resist this one


	44. Denki & Neito’s Meme battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team-up you didn't know you needed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: broken bones, cursing
> 
> Too many vine, tiktok & meme references. Here's the music I listened to when writing this, I'll write a list of the songs I referenced in the end notes  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNaiewBckcJK0gEgBYxepYlmqO-GyrNRb
> 
> Enjoy this crack chapter among the seriousness, we all deserve a little break, reading about two meme kids bonding
> 
> Have a nice day!  
> And shoutout to Lee who helped me plan this chapter, it was really fun to write

**Neito**

Neito swoops in, pushing Denki out of the way of a punch from one of the women they’re fighting and huffs.  
“Careful, Sparky, you could have dropped your croissant.”

Denki stares at him for a moment, and Neito is sure they’re going to ask what he means, but then a bright smile appears on their face.  
“You know vines!”  
“I know more than just vines. Duck.”  
Neito uses Aizawa’s quirk he got from running into him to stop the first woman from using her telekinesis to throw a potted plant at Denki. Fuck these stupid dry eyes.  
“Thomas had never seen before,” he grumbles and rubs his eyes.  
Denki is cackling as they shoot electricity at the woman and then dodge the other one.  
“Why did you never tell me you’re honestly funny when quoting memes?”  
“Why did you never tell _me_ that you're a person of knowledge?”  
“Fair enough. Watch out!”

The second villain seems to have an elasticity quirk as her arm shoots out, getting impossibly long, and shoves Neito backwards.  
He curses as he falls on his butt. Denki looks at him briefly and chuckles.  
"Get up, idiot."  
Neito rolls his eyes but does. This is a fight, maybe they should be serious about this. But humour has always been a great coping mechanism, so how about no?

“Stop fighting back, we’re not here to hurt you,” one of the villains snaps. “We’re just here to take you with us. You’ll help with a grand mission!”  
Neito snorts and then hears Denki mumble.  
“Bad? I’m not bad, I’m the good guy here! He just doesn’t get it. Do you think I’m bad?”  
The woman stares at them and Neito has to try really hard to stay focused and duck out of the way of the telekinesis woman throwing a chair his way. They’re maybe not trying to kill them, but they’re definitely not afraid of seriously incapacitating them.

“Thank you! I mean something good finally happens to me, and he just has to come along and rain on my parade!” Denki keeps going with a big smile on their lips, shooting electricity at the Elastic woman who seems seriously annoyed.  
“What are you even talking about, boy?”  
Neito frowns.  
“Hey, they’re no boy! I’ll punch you for that comment.”  
Denki is beaming at him, and Neito thinks that maybe they’re not so bad despite being in 1A.  
“Thanks, but it’s okay, she didn’t know.”  
“Stop talking and take us seriously!” Telekinesis snaps and the potted plant from earlier hits the side of his head, sending him to the floor.  
He groans and takes Denki’s offered hand. They pull him back to his feet and steady him as the two women come closer, looking ready to just tie them up and end this.

“You okay?” Denki asks. Neito touches his head and nods when there’s no blood.  
“Just a bruise, I’m fine.”  
“Okay, let’s end this, those are annoying me. Which quirks do you have right now?”  
“Mr. Aizawa’s for a few more minutes, yours, and-”  
The elastic arm hits him in the face and then starts wrapping around him like restraints.  
Neito grins brightly.  
“And hers.”

His own limbs start growing and the woman stares at him, grip loosening as she realises what his quirk is doing.  
“Uno reverse!” Neito shouts and punches her on the nose with his elongated hand. She curses and drops her grip on him.  
Without hesitation, he stops using her quirk and his limbs snap back to their normal position and length, then he erases the second villain’s quirk and grabs Denki’s hand. Not wasting time for their opponents to recover too much, he pulls Denki down the hallway and around the corner. There’s frustrated screaming from behind them and then footsteps.  
The two stop near the main entrance and Neito turns around and erases their pursuers' quirks again, but his eyes are burning so badly he can barely keep them open, and he knows the time is almost up even though he’s not wearing his hero costume and doesn’t have his watches.

“Do you copy drawbacks too?” Denki asks, shooting another bolt of electricity down the hallway. They can’t really control the direction without their hero gear, so they’ve been using low voltages this whole time in case they hit Neito instead of the villains, but in conclusion, the two women are only really pissed and very much healthy.  
“Yeah, Erasure is fucking up my eyes right now,” he groans and forces his eyes to stay open. Faintly he can hear more fighting noises, and for a moment he thinks about Greed, and then Ling and Katsuki. He hopes they’re all okay, yes, even explosion boy.  
“So you can’t use my electricity unlimited either.”  
“No.”

Denki is still humming the song from the Lorax, sounding nervous, then Neito snaps his fingers.  
“I may have an idea,” he mumbles. “I need you to use as much electricity as possible without turning stupid.”  
“I’ll hit you too.”  
“No, I have an idea. Trust me. Do it when I tell you to, okay?”  
The other kid stares at him for a moment, then nods.  
“Fine.”

Neito grins and starts singing Touch You from Yarichin Bitch Club and hears Denki laugh a bit behind him.  
The villains frown at him, clearly still annoyed, but also wary of him and his quirk. Neito winks at them.  
“I wanna wanna wanna touch your body.”  
“Shut him up before I rip out his tongue!”  
“Body body body!”

Neito hops forward, almost touching the telekinesis woman and she stumbles backwards.  
“Don’t you dare copy my quirk.”  
Glad they’re fully focused on him and completely ignoring Denki, he looks at the second villain and grins at her.  
Then his hand shoots out with the elasticity quirk and smacks the telekinesis woman in the stomach.

“Fuck! This little bastard is seriously getting on my nerves.”

Neito grins even wider and spins in a pirouette. He successfully made both villains walk further down the hallway, away from where he heard Midnight and some students fight.  
He looks around and spots another potted plant next to a door. He focuses on it and then it’s flying towards the two villains who jump out of the way so it breaks the window next to them instead.

“I’ve had enough. One dead student won’t make a difference!” Elasticity growls and starts walking towards him. That’s his signal.

“Pikachu! I choose you!”

And with that, he jumps out the window. The hairs on his neck stand up with the surge of electricity behind him, then he hits the ground and rolls to break the fall.  
He waits until the sparks stop and then runs back to the wall and pulls himself inside with the elongated arms.  
Denki is rubbing their neck and shaking their head. Neito puts a hand on their shoulder.  
“Are you alright?”  
“Yes, it was just a little much. I’m good.”  
“So, what did I miss?”

With a little grin, Denki steps to one of the women lying unconsciously on the floor and nudges her with their foot.  
“I’m super dead,” they say in a high-pitched voice.  
“My god. Miss Keesha.” Neito presses a hand to his chest and then chuckles.  
“Alright, let’s see where else we’re needed.”

\--

They find Midnight with Yaomomo, Uraraka and Jirou, names Neito only knows because Denki yells them and asks the girls if they’re okay.  
They are fighting a bunch of villains, and more students are further down the hall with more villains. Just how many associates does Greed’s father have?  
Midnight looks angry, a bunch of cuts are bleeding all over her body, but she’s still doing her best to fight a man with black hair and a sword. One of his eyes is completely white with red specks in it that are glowing. He’s moving really fast, almost as if he can see Midnight’s attacks before she even uses them.  
The villain looks skilled and dangerous, so Neito just guesses that he’s one of Greed’s siblings.

“Hey, Jirou, right?” Neito yells to earphone girl. “Can you play some battle music for us?”  
She frowns at him, and Yaomomo makes a disapproving face.  
“You need to take this more seriously. I heard you and Denki goof around earlier already.”  
“But we knocked two villains out, so it’s effective.” Denki shrugs.  
“Fine, if you don’t wanna play music, we make music.” Neito grins, remembering that being just absolutely crazy confuses villains - or everybody, really - to no end, so he moves over to Uraraka and taps her on the shoulder as she ducks under a piece of wall that’s being thrown at her.  
“Just borrowing something.”  
She ignores him, but he doesn’t care. Those people don’t understand the art of coping with humour. If he stops joking about this, he’ll start worrying about Greed and the others. So, singing it is.

“And so I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed, just to get it all out what’s in my head.”  
He approaches the guy who threw the wall piece which probably means he has some sort of muscle enhancing quirk or whatever. The guy blinks at him and then rips another piece of wall out and prepares it.

“And I am feeling a little peculiar!” Denki joins in while the girls leave that guy to him and focus on the others that are around.

The wall villain looks back and forth between them, then throws the wall at Neito who jumps out of the way.

“Rude! Why me? And I scream at the top of my lungs: What’s going on?”  
“You skipped some lyrics there.” Denki grins.  
“It fit better for the situation.”  
“Why can’t you just shut up and fight me normally like your classmates?”  
“Excuse me? They’re not my classmates, I only associate with Denki because they’re a meme connoisseur.”  
“A what?” the villain blinks.  
Neito grins.  
“That’s their quirk. It’s really powerful, you see?”

They’re dealing with a dumb villain apparently, and Neito is already having the time of his life. Denki is obviously trying to hold back giggles too.  
“What’s it do?”  
“Stop talking to them and capture them,” the guy fighting Midnight calls with a calm, cold voice.  
“Oh but you really shouldn’t do that. The second you answer one of their questions, they can control whatever you do!”  
The guy frowns.  
“Sounds fake, such quirks don’t exist.”  
“Wrong, my future boyfriend has that quirk, ignorant ass!”

Now the man seems completely lost and just rips a piece of floor out.  
Denki and Neito share a glance and then shrug simultaneously.  
“Hey, wanna try my quirk?” Denki asks.  
“No thanks.” The villain turns pale with realisation, and Denki cackles.  
“Heyyyayyyayyyaya,” they sing while Neito tries to get closer to use Uraraka’s quirk on him. But, sadly, the guy isn’t _that_ stupid and realises that they lied about Denki’s quirk when nothing happens. The piece of concrete flies towards Neito, and he has a really dumb idea that may go very wrong. But no time like the present to try risky things that possibly may end in death.

_I hope Greed tells Hitoshi how I feel if I die._

The fingertips of his left hand hit the concrete and he feels his fingers break, but the piece of floor starts floating to the ceiling, momentum stopped by his hand.  
“Hey, you have the same quirk as that girl!”  
Neito grins, then elongates his right hand quickly and taps the guy on the shoulder. He blinks.  
“You have multiple quirks?”  
Ignoring him, Neito uses Uraraka’s quirk again to drop the slab of concrete, and before it can hit him, he switches to the guy’s quirk and catches it. It feels crazy to be this strong, and the euphoria helps him ignore the broken fingers in his left hand.  
While the villain is completely baffled and staring at him in confusion, Neito throws the piece of floor. It grazes the guy who jumps out of the way last minute, but then Denki is next to him and grabs his arm, electricity flowing and shocking him until he drops, unconscious.

Denki sways on their feet, and Neito rushes over to them, grabbing them by the shoulders.  
“You shouldn’t use your quirk anymore.”  
“I’m fine, not stupid yet.”  
But their speech is already a little slurred.

Before Neito can say more, he freezes as he hears a familiar voice from outside yell a name.

_”Ling!”_

Neito moves at the same time as Denki, and together they rush towards the exit, only to be stopped by a sword thrown their way. It would have pierced Neito right through the back if Denki hadn’t pulled him to their side quickly. They stumble to the floor together and look towards the origin of the weapon. The guy Midnight is fighting. But Midnight is stumbling and seems to be struggling because the guy apparently doesn’t necessarily need a sword to fight.  
“Do we help Greed or Midnight?” Denki mumbles, voice sounding as stressed as Neito feels.  
“Midnight first. Aizawa was with Greed, they’ll be okay for a few more minutes.”

So, together they run back and focus on the fight, all jokes forgotten. They don’t know what happened to Ling, if he’s injured or captured, so they need to hurry.  
Because of the lack of joking, Neito finally realises the severity of the situation and the fact that they could’ve died multiple times today. He really preferred joking around with Denki over this awareness.

Even together, the three of them are having a hard time, especially since Denki still can’t really use their quirk without risking their drawback, and Neito’s fingers are broken on his left hand. But they provide the necessary distraction and add some chaos to the fighting, moving and attacking randomly, Denki with the sword they picked up, Neito with the different quirks he has copied right now. So, they finally manage to overpower the guy and Midnight makes him go to sleep.

Without waiting for her to say something, Denki and Neito share another look and then dash towards the entrance. They need to find Greed and Ling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at those idiots bonding over their humour, it's beautiful, isn't it? Seems like Neito likes two people from 1A now, they're sneaking into his heart until one day he has to admit he doesn't hate any of them anymore 🤭 it'll pain him
> 
> songs directly quoted: How bad can it be from The Lorax, What's Going on (also known as HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA lmao) I guess from He Man?? some edit/remix thing, Touch You from Yarichin Bitch Club (if you didn't yet, don't look up the English lyrics of this if you don't wanna lose your innocence)
> 
> and then I mentioned a bunch of other memes lmao, I hope you understood most of it and weren't just confused, this is very me-humour so don't worry if you didn't find it funny, I wouldn't be surprised
> 
> next chapter: we finally find out why Greed screamed Ling's name & what Riza watched happening two chapters ago


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed & Ling face Father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: major injury (impaled), large amounts of blood (bleeding out), kind of suicidal thoughts, cursing
> 
> This is kind of a heavy chapter feelings wise, so be prepared  
> I'm a little scared of posting it coz I like how this chapter turned out and hope yall will like it too akfnskxks
> 
> Now, before you read, an important announcement:
> 
> IT'S LEE'S BIRTHDAY!  
> Happy birthday to them, I love them to the moon and back, I am honestly so lucky to know them 🥺  
> They're the one this fic is gifted to and who wrote the wonderful YueSing oneshot set in this fic's universe and who always helps me when I'm struggling with something, writing or else  
> Thank you for existing 🥺💕

“I will rip your throat out and watch you die! You don’t get to threaten my kids!” Greed is angry, and his grip on Ling’s hand tightens.  
“I’m not threatening him, I’m merely offering him to take your place by my side. I’d leave Greed alone, child. You can work for me instead.”  
“No,” Greed snaps and looks at Ling behind his back. “No! Nobody is working for him. He loses today and will be gone for good.”

“Oh Greed… Do you really think that? Child, do you know what I did to him? Do you know why he’s so scared of me? I almost choked him to death. Oh he was so terrified of me afterwards.” Father smiles. “So I promise you now. If you lose, I’ll make you watch while I squeeze the life out of him.”

Greed feels Ling move before he can stop him and then he’s standing next to him instead of behind him, and Father looks him in the eyes.  
“No!” Greed pulls him back behind him, but it’s too late.  
“Oh how sweet. Did you know that you’re the most important thing for him?”  
The hand in his goes limp and Greed spins around, catching the boy in his arms as he collapses.  
“What did you do?” he yells. He took something from him. Fuck! “Give it back to him!”

The boy blinks slowly, opening his eyes. It takes him a moment to focus, and Greed waits for a look of recognition, of relief, just _something_ to know he’s okay, but instead, Ling gasps in fear and pushes away from him. Greed lets him go immediately, raising his hands in a hopefully non-threatening manner.  
“Ling, it’s me, calm down. Deep breaths. He took something from you.”

Father said he, Greed, is the most important thing for Ling, but he’s still here and alive, so it can’t have been him. They need to figure out what he took.

“No, don’t hurt me!” Ling begs, voice shaking, and Greed’s heart sinks. No. Oh no. No. He stays crouched so he seems less threatening, while the boy stands up, backing away from him and closer to Father. He can’t let him walk to him. Fuck!

“Ling, it’s me. Please, listen to me,” Greed begs, panic squeezing his chest so tightly he can barely breathe.  
“No, stay away from me!”  
“Ling.” He reaches out and the kid takes another step back.  
“Don’t come closer! You… You yelled at me! You threatened to lock me in a bathroom!”

Greed stares at him as he realises that Ling didn’t forget him. He just… forgot the positive memories with him? Is he now scared of him because he only knows the bad ones? Fuck!  
He tries his best to keep his voice kind, smiles as nicely as he can to calm him down.  
“You don’t know the context to that, please listen to me.”  
But Ling is shaking his head, face showing that he’s terrified. Before Greed can think of something to do or say to calm him, he sees three of Lust’s spears shoot towards Ling out of the corner of his eye. And he’s too far away to get there in time.  
“Ling!” he screams and moves forward anyways.  
There’s a blur of black and red and someone crashes into Ling and the kid falls.  
Instead, the spears bury themselves in another boy’s chest. Envy’s eyes are wide with shock and he looks at Greed before falling to his knees.  
“No,” Greed gasps. “No!”  
He runs and throws himself to his knees next to Envy. The spears retract back to their owner, but she gets distracted by the heroes fighting her, so Greed ignores her and frantically presses his hands on the wounds.  
“No,” he sobs, trying to add pressure. “Stay with me, Envy, please, don’t go. You can’t go, please, you’re my little brother, you were supposed to outlive me, please.”  
He’s crying but he doesn’t even care.  
Envy is grinning up at him.  
“I couldn’t let the brat die. You care so much about him…”  
“I care about you too! Why did you do that?”  
“He would have died if I hadn’t saved him.”  
“I could have saved him using his quirk.”  
“Whatever his quirk is, he’s scared of you.” Envy coughs and blood dribbles down his chin. “He wouldn’t have let you.”  
Greed knows he’s right and hates it. His hands are slippery with the warm blood that’s steadily streaming out of the holes in Envy’s chest. In the background he hears the sound of explosions and fire, a woman’s voice, but he doesn’t care what’s happening around them.

“Hold on, okay? You just need to hold on so you’ll heal.”  
“We both know my healing isn’t fast enough. It’s okay. Greed, it’s okay.”  
“No, it’s not! I should have never abandoned you. I’m so sorry. This all could be different.”  
Another sob pushes through his mouth and Envy is tearing up now too.  
“Shh, it’s okay,” he mumbles. “I had to save him for you. You need to make sure he remembers you and has a long happy life, okay? Give him the childhood we never got.”  
Greed nods and tries to press harder onto the wounds, but he only has two hands, so one is just bleeding without anything holding it back, and even the ones he is putting pressure on are not stopping. There’s exit wounds at Envy’s back too. It’s pointless.  
Looking around for help, Greed sees Aizawa and Mic still with Lust, and remembers the school nurse. Where is she? Hiding somewhere, probably.  
“Ling!” he yells. “Ling, you have to find Recovery Girl, please. Don’t do it for me, do it for him.”

Ling is staring at them with wide eyes. He seems to be in shock. Greed screams frustrated and catches Aizawa’s eyes across the school grounds.  
The man tries to move towards him but gets distracted by a villain, so Greed turns back to Envy, mind frantically working.  
His baby brother is so pale…  
“I don’t mind it too much,” Envy whispers. “I wasn’t in a good place, I didn’t really know what to do with myself anymore. So this is a nice way to go. After finally being a hero.”  
Greed shakes his head frantically and pulls Envy closer so he’s lying with his head in his lap instead of the floor.  
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you become a hero. I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s okay. I’ve forgiven you. For everything. I know you didn’t mean for me to get hurt.”

Envy coughs again, spitting blood, and Greed’s can’t get any air into his lungs.  
“Don’t leave me,” he chokes out. “You’re the only real family I had for so long.”  
“You have your new family now. You’ll be okay. Promise me you’ll be okay.”  
His eyes close and Greed shakes him.  
“Stay awake!”  
“Promise,” Envy begs quietly.  
Greed is shaking so badly.  
“Okay,” he whispers. “I promise.”  
Envy smiles.  
“Good. I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving you behind sad…”  
Hands bloody and shaking, Greed pushes some strands of hair out of Envy’s face.  
“I wish I could have saved you…”  
His baby brother looks at him and smiles a little wider  
"It's okay, really. Can you tell Dabi and the others… that I’m really grateful that they took me in? They’re my family… I’m sorry for leaving them so soon again, and even without saying goodbye…”  
Greed nods, tears dropping on Envy’s hair.  
“Okay…” he whispers.

Then, someone falls to their knees next to them, and Greed startles. She has dark blue hair and a lot of scars on the visible skin which is mainly just the face because she’s wearing a broad choker and long sleeves.  
“I can’t take those, not even I can survive holes in my body,” she says, voice calm and even.  
“Who are you?” Envy chokes out.  
She smiles at him softly and strokes his cheek.  
“I’m Maddie, just stay calm, okay? I’ll save you.”  
“What? No. I don’t wanna be saved.”  
Greed feels like he’s being choked again.  
“How?” he demands. Maddie turns to him.  
“I can transfer injuries. I could take them, I can take a lot of pain, but then I’m the one bleeding to death.”  
“Give them to me,” Greed says without hesitation. “I have a healing quirk.”  
She looks at him for a moment and Greed grits his teeth. He raises his shield on his hands, scratches his leg and drops the shield so his body can heal it. The woman nods, finally believing him.  
“This will hurt. We can only do one at a time so we don’t overwhelm your quirk and you’re the one dying.”

“No, please,” Envy whispers, but gladly Maddie doesn’t listen to him and just puts a hand on Envy’s first wound, then on Greed’s arm. For a moment he feels nothing, then pain hits him and he looks down at his chest where a hole is. Unlike the remaining ones on his brother, Greed’s wound starts to close immediately. It still hurts like hell, and he can feel blood dripping out of him before the skin is closed again.  
Maddie doesn’t hesitate and just continues with the second one.  
Time seems to blur for the next… it can’t be more than a minute, really, because otherwise Envy would’ve still bled out.

His baby brother is incredibly pale, and Greed looks at Maddie worried.  
“Didn’t it help?”  
“It did, he’s healed, but I can’t put the blood back into his body, so he’s still very weak.”  
“Let me die, please,” Envy whispers, and when Greed turns to him, he sees that he’s crying. “I wanted to go. Why did you stop me?”  
Greed doesn’t know what to say, but apparently, whoever this woman is, she’s an angel because she runs a hand over Envy’s hair and then takes him by the shoulders.  
“I’ll take him to the side and keep an eye on him, this fight isn’t over.”  
“But who even are you?” Greed knows she saved his brother, but he wants to be sure he’s safe with her.  
“My hero-name is Meds, but I don’t work as a hero. I’m kind of with the vigilante Ink. We’re here with Mustang and Hawkeye. But there’s really no time to explain right now.”

She’s right, of course, so Greed allows her to pull Envy up and pick him up. He doesn’t have time to worry longer because Maddie is right, they’re in the middle of a fight, and Ling is still in shock.  
He forces himself to stop worrying about Envy, instead he gets up and hurries over to the kid who’s just standing there while people are still fighting around him, grabbing his arm.  
“Ling? I need you to focus on me, okay? I know you don’t trust me, but I need to take you to a safe place, okay? Do you understand?”  
The kid nods slowly, eyes still wide and lip trembling.  
They turn around together and Greed finally registers all their surroundings again. Aizawa, Mic and a guy in a hat are fighting Lust together who looks beaten up despite her healing, but still angry and determined, a man with a fire quirk and a blond woman are up against Father. The one who caused this all. Greed has half the mind to just charge at him and beat him to death with his fists.  
But then he sees a flash of blond out of the corner of his eyes and spots Denki and Monoma running towards them. Denki stops next to them and grabs Ling’s hand.  
“Are you okay?”  
Ling doesn’t reply, so Denki turns to Greed and their mouth falls open, probably because Greed looks like a mess and has clearly been crying. Also, his clothes are soaked in blood.

“Father took his good memories of me. He’s scared of me. Envy saved him. He almost died.” His voice cracks at the end and Denki turns to Monoma. They seem to have a silent conversation, and then Monoma is squeezing Greed’s arm.  
“Wait here.”  
Before he can say anything, the two kids run off, straight towards the biggest danger here: Father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a hug after this 😔❤️
> 
> Funfact: originally Envy died in this chapter, but after some thinking and talking to Lee I decided that I can't do it, Envy deserves better, soo that was changed, also affecting some of the later parts
> 
> Next chapter: the fight against Father featuring another unexpected team-up


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monoma & Denki try to help  
> Some things go right, others go horribly wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: broken bones, blood, death, gore (marked with !!! -> graphic description of skin burning & organs being forcefully removed, starts at !!! and ends at !!!!), cursing
> 
> Please be careful, it's gory!  
> I tried not to go overboard so the rating doesn't have to be changed to E, but it's still a lot

“Monoma, Denki, stop!” he yells, but the kids are already there. “Fuck! Don’t lock eyes with him!”  
Greed looks at Ling again, not sure what to do with him.  
“Go help them.”  
He spins around and sees the blond woman next to him, the dark-haired guy behind her.  
“We’ll keep him safe. Trust us.”  
“Hawkeye, I-” the man starts.  
“No, I’m not supporting your reckless revenge! We’re protecting the boy! Let other people handle that guy.”

Greed doesn’t want to leave Ling with strangers, he already made the decision to trust the other woman, but he doesn’t have a choice. Also, they’re both wearing the uniform Todoroki wore for Halloween, and the guy said the name Hawkeye, so they’re the ones Maddie mentioned. With a pinched face, he nods and watches as the woman puts a hand on Ling’s shoulder, and he lets her.

There’s no time to dwell on it, so Greed turns back to Father and his two other kids, then he moves forward to help them. Denki is barely using their electricity anymore, meaning they used it too much already and are at risk of turning their brain off for a while.  
Monoma’s eyes are red and his hair is flowing. He must have touched Aizawa on the way here. But this is good.  
“Keep it up, kid!” he calls and punches Father in the face as hard as he can, smirking when the nose crunches.  
“Give Ling his memories back,” he snaps and tries to hit him again, but Father moves out of the way. Greed’s shield snaps up and he slashes at him with his claws, hitting him right on his chest because Father is too slow.  
He’s quite old after all, and without his many quirks, one of which is probably something that keeps him young, he looks his age and moves according to it. Then Monoma has to blink and Greed is being kicked in the leg, almost sending him to the floor.  
He hisses and raises his hands in front of himself, ready to rip him to pieces, but unable to kill him before he returns Ling’s memories.  
“Give them back!”  
Father just smiles.  
“No.. They’re annoying and cheesy, but I can live with them. It’s not half as bad as your ridiculous love.”

Before Greed can freak out, Monoma grabs his arm and looks at him for a long moment. And Greed understands.  
“It’s dangerous. He has more than one,” he mumbles, not wanting to see him get hurt, not after Envy…

Monoma completely ignores him and jumps forward, throwing a punch.  
Father laughs.  
“Do your children all fight so poorly?”  
“They fight the best they can,” Greed says coldly and then looks at Monoma who has his eyes closed and is probably filtering through the different quirks. He can copy four at a time, and they don’t know how many Father has… Greed hopes he’s okay.

When Monoma’s eyes open again, one is glowing red, one is completely white. His skin seems to vibrate, and there’s sweat on his forehead.  
“Monoma,” Greed gasps and moves forward. Father tilts his head, watching the kid, probably not sure what’s happening, but intrigued.  
“It’s fine.” Monoma’s voice sounds strained. “Give me a second.”  
He seems to have confused his own quirk since he’s only touched one person, but copied every single quirk in Father that he can, not only four.  
“I’ll get Aizawa-”  
“No!” Monoma takes a shaky step towards Ling and the two heroes. “One moment.”  
Greed knows that he has to trust Monoma, but he seems a second away from fainting, and if he uses the quirk wrong…  
He hears Ling gasp, and sees that he’s holding his head while Hawkeye is talking to him. When the boy looks up, his eyes are wide and full of recognition and horror, and Greed knows he has his memories back.  
“Monoma, you did it, you need to let them go somehow.”  
“I…” Monoma blinks and his eyes are normal for a moment, then they’re both white. “I _can’t_.”  
“How many quirks do you have?” Greed asks Father angrily. The man looks at him and then starts laughing.  
“Did he try to take my quirks?”  
“Stop laughing at him!”  
It’s Denki who yells that, and they follow it up by shooting electricity at Father. Father twitches, but then he swings and before Greed can help, he hits Denki and sends them flying a few metres back.  
They hit the floor and sit up again after a moment. Deciding they’re fine, Greed focuses on Father.

“I hate you so fucking much.”  
The man has the audacity to laugh at him.  
“Look at that. Your brother almost dead, one your children about to explode with the power of my quirks.”  
Greed yells in frustration and slashes his claws over Father’s face. It doesn’t remove the grin from his face, and they heal immediately.  
“Out of the way!” the woman yells and Greed reacts instinctively. He throws himself to the side, taking Monoma to the floor with him. There’s the roar of flames, and when Greed checks again, Father is cursing and patting his sleeves that were already singed before this, probably from fighting Mustang earlier.  
“We can keep him distracted!”

One look at Monoma tells him that that’s good because he needs to get him to Aizawa. Monoma is shivering and twitching. Greed picks him up, startled at how hot his body is running, and starts moving towards Aizawa by the entrance door.  
“Aizawa!” he yells when they’re close enough. “Quirk!”  
The man turns to him and his hair starts flowing, eyes glowing. Monoma sighs and sags in his arms. Greed presses a hand to his forehead. He’s still warm, but not burning up anymore. Back with Hawkeye and Ling, he puts the kid down. He’s barely conscious, and Hawkeye puts an arm around him to hold him in a sitting position, never looking away from Mustang.  
“Twelve o’clock, three metres,” she yells.  
Greed opens his mouth, but Mustang shoots fire. He blinks. She told him Father’s position, and really accurate at that.  
“He’s blind,” Hawkeye explains, still not looking in his direction. He understands now why.  
“I can work with that.”  
Her head twitches like she wants to turn to him but holds herself back.  
“Three o’clock, lower your hands ten centimetres, the child is still to your left at eight o’clock! What do you mean?”  
“What’s your quirk?”  
“I shoot bullets from my skin and control them. I also see very far.”  
“Good. Forget Mustang and use your own quirk to help out around here. I got this.”  
“You have absolutely no experience-”  
“So what? There’s still too many villains around, and there’s a bunch of students who need help. He’s a pro-hero with his own agency, isn’t he? He will be able to fight on his own,” he snaps. “Go get the kids to your friend Maddie and then go and help where you’re needed.”

She gets up smoothly, Monoma slipping so he’s leaning against Ling, and then she punches him in the face.  
“Never talk to me like that again. If he dies, you’re next.”  
Greed blinks but nods and then rushes to Mustang’s side.  
“Your girlfriend has to help out elsewhere, I’ll have to be your eyes.”  
To the guy’s credit, he doesn’t falter.

Pleased when Greed sees Hawkeye grab Denki too, he moves past Mustang, making sure he brushes him so he knows he’s now in his line of fire and doesn’t want to be fried, then kicks Father in the stomach and when he grabs his leg like predicted, swings himself so Father stumbles to the side and lets him go. Greed moves swiftly, using the brief second of confusion to stab his claws into his back, and just like he wanted, Father roars in pain before his healing quirk sets in.  
“Fry him!” Greed yells and rolls out of the way so Mustang can send his fire in the direction of Father’s pained noise and Greed’s voice. It’s not as accurate as Hawkeye’s descriptions, but he thinks this is working well enough.

Mentally, he tries to think of the quirks he knows Father has. Taking away what’s important to people, but he already took Greed’s love once and couldn’t handle it, so he won’t use that again. He should warn Mustang though. Then there’s a strength quirk and his youth quirk that makes his body work as if he’s only twenty. And of course, his healing quirk.  
Greed is really glad in this moment, that Father’s body can’t handle just any quirk, otherwise they’d be in big trouble.

Father’s body is still healing from the fire, so Greed moves over to Mustang.  
“His quirk steals-”  
“I know. My eyes.”  
“Oh.”

Greed pushes Mustang out of the way of Father approaching them quickly. So he’s fast too?  
His hands move upwards and he catches the blow of his fist with his shield. Then he pushes forward, trying to hit him with his claws. He does, a few times, and he just hopes that Father is slowly getting tired because Greed sure as hell is.  
“Why did you send Hawkeye away?” Mustang snaps.  
“Because others need help too, just listen to my voice, I’m right in front of him.”  
“Then move!”  
Not waiting to be toasted, Greed rolls behind Father and slices his legs from behind while Father is busy being roasted. Greed gets singed too, and his shield drops so it can heal.  
He’s not only getting physically exhausted, but he’s also just mentally tired of this fight. Three of his kids are in pain, he doesn’t know where Katsuki or Ed are, how Aizawa or Mic are doing or the other students. He doesn’t even know if Eri is safe even though he’s pretty sure that Togata would protect her with his life even without quirk, and that the shy kid is most likely somewhere near them to keep them safe.

“Can’t you just fucking die?” he yells and jumps at Father, wrapping his legs around his neck, squeezing tightly and making him stumble. His claws try to rip out his throat, but Father’s hands wrap around his wrists, and then the third one grabs him by the neck. Greed has a hard time not panicking.  
“I could ask you the same.” There’s fire in his eyes. “You keep disobeying me, Greed. Just lower your shield and let’s settle this properly.”  
“You have a shield?” Mustang calls. “Full body?”  
“Yes?”

**!!!**

Instead of an answer, fire shoots towards them, and then surrounds them like a storm of flames. Greed holds his breath so he doesn’t breathe them in, but his shield stays in place, keeping him safe while he can see up close how Father’s skin bubbles under the heat and blisters form that then pop. It’s absolutely disgusting, but he has to keep going, so without being able to breathe and the heat becoming unbearable, he slams his claws through Father’s throat and rips it open completely. His hands drop and Greed can push away from him. He lands on the floor, and a second wave of flames encases them. He needs air desperately, but he keeps his mouth closed tightly and buries his hands in the man’s chest, feeling the ribs break under the force of his punch.  
The fire dies down and Greed breathes in the smoke-filled air greedily. Then, his eyes lock with Father’s.

“I hope you like that it was me of all people who ruined your plans.”

He buries his claws in Father’s heart and rips it out. Father stares at him, twitching, but he’s too drained of energy for his quirk to work fast enough. There’s blood gushing out of his chest and throat, and Greed can’t help the grin spreading on his lips as he crumples to the floor.  
“I beat you. Once and for all. I win and you lose. You can never hurt me or anyone else again.”  
He watches as the light fades from his eyes, and then Greed flops down on his knees, heart dropping from his hand. There’s so much blood, he feels sticky and gross and exhausted. 

**!!!!**

His shield drops and his bare feet get coated in blood too. Grimacing, he pushes to his feet again and walks over to Mustang who’s breathing harshly and looks tense.  
“He’s dead,” Greed says and the man relaxes.  
“Good. Finally.”  
“Sorry about your eyes. He can only return stuff up to a week after taking it.”  
“I adjusted. I don’t need my sight back.”

Greed huffs.  
“Good. Let’s find your girlfriend and my kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was a ride huh? But the bastard is dead!
> 
> Next chapter: we'll see how the kids are doing among other stuff I cannot spoil yet
> 
> PS: random shoutout to Lee, simply for existing


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Checking up on the kids & the biggest argument ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of vomit, broken bones, suicidal thoughts, blood, cursing
> 
> Manga spoilers: Hawks & the League of Villains, Hawks & the commission assigning him a mission
> 
> A bit longer with POV changes and multiple revelations, I hope it's not too much new stuff at once!

**Greed**

Greed finds Monoma, Denki, Envy and Ling with Maddie all sitting in the grass, off to the side between some trees. There’s vomit on the floor near them and Maddie is talking insistently to Denki, one arm holding them, telling them to keep their eyes open and stay awake.  
Fear shoots through him and he kneels down next to them. Mustang stops beside him.  
“What’s wrong with them?” Greed asks.  
“They have a concussion, but I can’t tell how severe.”  
“What? Are you sure?”  
Greed reaches out and brushes some hair out of Denki’s face. They’re sweating.  
“Their speech is slurred and they can’t seem to concentrate on anything.”  
“Their quirk does that when they overuse it.”

Maddie looks at him.  
“Vomiting too? Also, my quirk helps me detect injuries. I’m sure.”  
Fuck.  
“Denki, hey, can you hear me?”  
They look at him with unfocused eyes and nod slightly.  
There’s so much worry in Greed’s chest, but Denki isn’t the only injured one. It seems like not a single one of his kids got out of this unharmed. Not even his brother. He can just hope that Katsuki and Ed are okay.  
“Can your quirk-”  
“I won’t give it to you.”

Taken aback, he stares at her.  
“What?”  
“You’re barely healing anymore.”  
She nods pointedly at his feet. Right. He dropped his shield, and his bare feet are bleeding, and it’s definitely not only Father’s blood because walking through the snow has cleaned them a bit, and there’s some weak red lightning. He must have stepped into something, but he barely noticed the pain, or the exhaustion for that matter.  
“He’s conscious, and mostly responsive, so it isn’t too bad. Trust me, okay? He’ll be okay.”  
Greed fucking hates having to trust people he doesn’t know. Hell, he needs time to trust people he does know.  
“How are the others?”  
He looks at Envy who’s barely awake, leaning against a tree. It looks like he cried some more, judging from the tear tracks on his dirty cheeks. Monoma is leaning against Ling, both of them awake but clearly exhausted and overwhelmed. The blond boy’s eyes are wide with shock.  
“They’re… physically fine, except for the one who got stabbed, he’s still dealing with blood loss. But mentally… It took a toll on them.”

It was to be expected, of course. Envy almost died. Ling saw someone almost die for him. Monoma seriously overused his quirk. Denki got thrown so hard they got a concussion.  
Unsure if he should talk to them or return to the fight, he stands up and just looks at them.  
Then, there’s a loud noise like someone landing after flying, and footsteps follow. Mustang flinches, and Greed turns in the direction and sees people flooding the school grounds. Tension fills him, but Maddie grabs his hand from where she’s sitting.  
“Heroes and police,” she says gently, and his shoulders sag. It’s over. Finally.  
He looks at Mustang and starts feeling a little bad because he sent his eyes away to fight too, leaving him in the dark, quite literally.  
“Here, sit down,” he tells him and grabs his arm. Mustang glares in his general direction.  
“ _Stop_ this. I’ll tell you when I need help, don’t just manhandle me.”  
Greed bites his lip and drops his arm.  
“How can I help then?”  
“Just let me sit with Meds until Hawkeye is back.”  
“Okay, she’s like one metre to your left on the floor.”  
“One metre and about twenty centimetres,” Maddie corrects with a little smile. “And I’d guess ten o’clock from your spot.”  
Mustang moves and sits next to her. Blinking, Greed watches.  
“Okay so I wasn’t accurate, I’m sorry, I don’t have practice with this.”  
“Neither does Meds.”  
The woman clears her throat.  
“No more fighting. Show me your hands, Mustang. What happened to them? Your gloves are ripped.”  
“I tripped and fell while fighting because _someone_ sent Riza away,” he grumbles.  
“Alright, I’ll take those scrapes for you, your hands will be fine, don’t worry.”

Greed decides that he can’t do much more here and he’ll just have to live with the guy hating him - partly justified - and turns away from them. He has kids to check up on.  
His feet carry him to Envy, and he falls down next to him. Before he can say anything, there’s a shout.  
“Envy!”  
Greed turns his head and sees the man with the purple scars, Dabi, running towards them. He looks kind of cooked, but his eyes are filled with harsh fear.  
“Envy, what happened, are you okay?”  
There’s no reply from him, and Dabi turns to him with a glare that doesn’t cover the worry.  
“He’ll be fine,” Greed says. “He got stabbed by our sister and lost a lot of blood, but this vigilante saved him with her quirk. He’s just weak.”  
Dabi drops to the floor next to him and puts a hand on Envy’s knee.  
“Oh kid,” he mumbles. “Don’t scare me like that…”  
“I wanted it.”

Both Greed and Dabi immediately focus on him as Envy speaks up.  
“What?” Dabi asks. But Greed has his fists clenched.  
“Stop it, Envy.”  
“Don’t tell me what to do.”  
“What is he talking about?”  
“He didn’t want us to save him. He… begged us to let him die.”

Greed gets up. He can’t do this anymore.  
“I have to go check on my kids,” he mumbles and walks over to Monoma and Ling.

Ling looks at him as he sits down next to them, and then he tears up and throws himself into Greed’s arms.  
“I’m sorry. This is my fault. I almost got him killed.”  
Knowing that his words won’t do anything to help right now, not when Ling is too upset to even listen to him, Greed just holds him close and strokes his hair.  
He stops when he sees that Monoma is watching them, still wide-eyed. With a sigh, he moves Ling to one side of him so there’s space for the other kid too, and waves him over.  
His eyes close when he holds them both tightly, and they sit there underneath the trees, smelling of blood and sweat, horrified by the events of the day.

**Dabi**

“What does he mean, you begged for them to let you die?”  
Dabi shifts closer to Envy and puts a hand on his shoulder.  
“I want to die, Dabi,” he whispers. “I thought I could finally… get out. I wanted out. I can’t do this anymore. I’m always scared of Father… Of my siblings… Of being left behind. I thought I could finally leave.”  
His heart hurts, and his aching body from the fight is forgotten. He pulls Envy into a careful hug so he doesn’t pull any staples.  
“I’m never going to leave you, I promise. I’m not your stupid brother.”  
“But you are.”  
Dabi blinks.  
“What?”  
“You’re my brother.”  
A little smile tugs at his lips.  
“Okay. But I’m not like your other brother. I’m staying. And if I ever leave, I’m taking you with me.”  
Envy relaxes in his arms.  
“Okay…”

“What are they doing here?” Endeavor’s booming voice startles Dabi, and he pulls away from Envy.  
“Stay here, okay? I’ll come back for you.”  
The other nods weakly, and Dabi gets up, following Greed to the space in front of the school’s main entrance.  
A crowd has formed there. Sako is standing with Present Mic and Aizawa, they fought together after all, and Endeavor is glaring down Twice, Toga and Magne. Dabi grits his teeth and stalks closer, fists clenched at his sides.  
“We came here to help,” he snarls and places himself in front of Toga protectively.  
“Where’s Envy?” Magne asks.  
“He’ll be okay.”

Him and Endeavor have a stare-off.  
“And why should we believe you?”  
Dabi scoffs.  
“Ask literally anybody here. We helped fight off those attacking the school.”  
“Without him we wouldn’t have been able to stand up against the one we were fighting,” Midoriya speaks up from where he’s standing off to the side, looking beat up but standing.  
“And those three helped Tsuburaba and me,” a kid with a headband adds and points at Magne, Twice and Toga.  
Endeavor seems angry because evidence shows that the League was helpful this time. Then, he seems to think of something. Dabi is on edge.

“But how did you know the school was under attack if you weren’t involved?”  
He bites his tongue and forces himself _not_ to look in the direction of their informant. He’s not going to rat them out even if it incriminates him. Somehow he will get the others out of here and then he might just burn his dear father to the ground.  
Apparently, Blondie didn’t get the memo.

“I called them.”

All eyes turn to Present Mic.

**Greed**

Greed feels cold as he stares at Mic. Aizawa next to them seems just as shocked.  
“Hizashi?” he asks. “Why? How?”  
“I’ve been in contact with them for a while now. I knew they’d be here quicker than any heroes, so I called them to help us against the attack.”  
Understanding crosses several faces. Greed understands too. He doesn’t want to say it out loud.

“You’re the traitor,” Midoriya blurts, eyes wide. “But… You’re a teacher!”

Some things make sense now though. Whenever Mic helped him with something or was nice to him they were probably just feeling guilty about Greed’s kids being hurt because of him, especially Katsuki. Katsuki who has nightmares and PTSD and more issues because of being kidnapped.  
Greed takes a step forward, ready to strangle Mic, but Aizawa moves first and slaps them.  
“My kids, Hizashi! You got them in danger, you got them hurt.”  
“Sho’, you gotta listen, I can explain-”  
“I don’t want to hear your excuses. Do you know what you did to them? To Katsuki? To Midoriya?”

“As much as I enjoy this lovers’ quarrel, I would like to speak to someone about this and let them explain,” Wrath says.  
Greed almost forgot about him. He’s tied up in chains and being held by two officers. His eyes are covered with a blindfold. Good.  
“You want a lawyer?” one of the cops holding him asks frowning. “You can have one once we’re at the station.”  
“Not a lawyer. I want to speak to someone from the commission.”  
Endeavor - Greed thinks that that’s the name of the flaming pile of shit that is Todoroki’s father - scoffs.  
“Why would you want to speak to them?”  
“They allowed us to come here after all. They just wanted a few of the kids too. Didn’t they tell you about that? Is that why you intervened?”

There’s an eerie silence as everyone processes his words.

“Liar,” Endeavor snaps. “Why do you think we’d believe you?”  
“Then how did Father get to All for One to steal his quirk? Somebody from the commission let him into the prison. They didn’t think he’d steal the quirk of course, they just thought he’d talk to him. They were really naive, thinking he can’t steal the quirk of someone without eyes.” Wrath sounds very amused, and Greed wants to think he’s lying, but he knows he’s not.  
“Greed,” Aizawa says. “They had you kidnapped. You were with them. Is he telling the truth?”  
All eyes turn to him, and Greed crosses his arms, uncomfortable with the situation because he’s sure he looks like shit, covered in blood, sweaty, bare feet littered with cuts that are barely healing anymore.  
“I don’t know for sure if they work with them, but Father did talk about visiting somebody in Tartarus and about getting permission from an associate. And earlier when confronting him, he talked about someone named All for One and that he stole their quirk.”

“You work with them? You let them into Tartarus?” Mic asks horrified, staring at Endeavor.  
“No! He’s a liar. The commission would never work with someone like these people.”  
“They needed someone to get rid of certain villains and sometimes heroes, no questions asked.” Wrath smiles. “And in exchange we were pretty much allowed to do what we want as long as the commission gets a few more kids to raise.”  
“They ordered you to kill heroes? No.” Endeavor glares at Wrath.

“They wanted to make me kill Best Jeanist.”  
Greed turns to the voice. A young man who can’t be much older than Gluttony with red wings is pushing past some students and stops next to Dabi.  
“I’m a spy for them in the League. And to solidify my position there and to ensure their trust, they told me to murder Best Jeanist.”  
“Lucky for jeans guy, Birdie was smart enough to tell us all about the commission and how shitty they are. So, he didn’t have to kill him and just told the commission he did. So I really don’t doubt them working with someone who wants to kidnap kids to use them for his world domination plan.” Dabi has his arms crossed.  
Not really shocked - a society that lets kids get in danger this much while they’re training to become heroes can’t really shock him with such revelations - Greed watches bird guy. He looks nervous.

“Stop lying, Hawks.”  
This seems to be turning into an Endeavor vs. the League and associates situation.  
“He’s not lying. I was around them all a bunch, I know Hawks.” Mic looks at Aizawa. “You know the commission is full of shit, Sho’.”  
“As the one betraying this school I don’t think you have any right to interrupt,” Endeavor says coldly.  
“Let me explain myself!”  
“Nobody cares about your explanations.”  
“Will you stop being so stubborn? I saved your son’s life,” Dabi grits out.  
“I don’t care who helped who! This doesn’t change the fact that you’re villains and need to be locked up.”

Hawks spreads his wings and places himself in front of Dabi and three other League members behind him, shielding them.  
“You won’t touch them.”  
“We should arrest you too.”  
“Ask the commission! They told me to infiltrate them for information.”

“I don’t want to hear anymore lies about the commission!” Endeavor booms, and then it’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“He’s defending the commission an awful lot. He’s in on all of this,” Dabi then says darkly from behind Hawks and pushes his wings aside.  
“We’re leaving, come on.”  
“No, you-”  
“Let them go,” a voice drawls, and Greed looks over at the owner of it. It’s Mustang.  
“Yes, just let them go, they helped, we should give them that,” a student calls.  
“I agree,” Midnight decides. “There’s no reason to arrest them right now.

Greed doesn’t quite know what to say. Sure, they helped, but they also hurt UA children before.  
He sighs. No, it wouldn’t be fair to arrest them right now. The only reason the students are alive and safe is because of their quick help. He locks eyes with Aizawa and sees that he came to the same conclusion.

An argument between different heroes and the police starts up, but Greed ignores it and walks over to Dabi.  
“I’m taking Envy to the hospital.”  
The villain frowns.  
“No, he’s coming with us. They’ll arrest him.”  
“Nobody knows he was with you. I’ll just say he came here to visit me at work as my brother and got involved. He needs a hospital to make sure he’s okay.”  
Dabi looks upset that Greed is right, and he understands him.  
“He’ll be okay. I swear, I won’t let him down again.”  
“Fine. But I’ll tell him. He hates you enough already for saving his life.”  
“Fine by me.”

The heroes seem to have gotten over their argument, as Endeavor storms off angrily. He apparently lost. Dabi takes out his phone and calls someone, starting to walk towards Envy. Greed follows him to check on the kids.  
Before reaching Ling, Denki and Monoma, he almost runs into Katsuki, whose eyes are red and swollen, and who looks exhausted. Greed takes his arm.

“Hey, kid, are you okay?”  
“I had to burn Ed to close his wounds,” Katsuki whispers. Greed closes his eyes briefly, then he wraps an arm around the boy and leads him the rest of the way to the other three.  
“Where is Ed right now?”  
“With Recovery Girl…”

Still near the kids are Maddie and a guy with glasses who’s sitting on the floor with someone lying with their head in his lap.  
“There’s ambulances in front of the gate, they already put the ones with the worst injuries in there,” glasses says and Greed nods.  
“I’ll take Envy and Denki to the hospital. How are the others?”  
Maddie smiles at him weakly.  
“They’re physically fine.”  
She looks at Katsuki and gets up, walking up to him slowly.  
“Hey, I’m Maddie, I’m a trained nurse, can I take a look at you?”

The kid looks at Greed, then nods once, eyes narrowed in suspicion.  
Maddie gives him a once over, then steps back.  
“He seems fine too apart from a few scrapes and bruises. They should get sleep.”  
Katsuki pulls away from Greed then, and kneels down next to Denki.

Greed bites his lip and is glad when he sees Aizawa nearby and waves him over.  
“I’m going to the hospital with Envy and Denki. Can the other three stay with you?”  
“I could drive them home.”  
“No, I want to go with Denki,” Katsuki says.  
“You need sleep. I promise I’ll make sure they’re taken care of.”  
“Come on, I just need to get Shinsou and Eri, and check on my students, then we’re leaving,” Aizawa says kindly, and Katsuki’s shoulders slump. He has to be absolutely exhausted to give up without a fight. It breaks Greed’s heart.  
“They'll be okay, right?” he asks, voice quiet.  
“I promise you they will be,” Greed says firmly.

He looks after Katsuki, Ling and Monoma as they follow Aizawa, then he gently picks up Denki in his arms and looks towards Envy.  
“I’ll take him to the ambulance. And if anything happens to him, I’m burning you alive.” Dabi’s eyes are hard as he helps Envy up and glares at Greed. Nodding, Greed just starts walking towards the gate. If anything happens to his baby brother he deserves to be burned.

**Maddie**

_Maddie, hero name Meds, her quirk: Medic Transfer; When she touches an injury, she can give it to somebody else or it manifests on her own body! There’s no limit to the amount and severity of injuries she can transfer! But she’s not immune to pain or death, and she can’t transfer illnesses. Her quirk helps her detect injuries and wounds._

Maddie sighs as she watches cops lead away arrested villains and carry injured and dead ones. She’s not sure how many are dead, and if there’s any students among the casualties, but one of the dead bodies is definitely the one that led this entire thing.

Next to her, Kain is holding Ink in his lap, running a hand through their hair.  
“We should get going too,” Maddie says gently, and Kain’s eyes snap to her, looking like she caught him doing something forbidden. Judging by the way his hand stills, he probably thinks she’s judging him.  
Maddie missed seeing Kain and working with Ink and the Mustang agency. For a moment, there’s memories of the last time running through her head, of good and bad times spent together, then she pushes them away firmly and pushes herself to her feet.  
“Come on, should I help you carry them?”  
“I’m not unconscious, you know?” Ink’s voice snaps weakly, and Maddie smiles a little.  
“Of course. But I doubt you can walk.”

In the end, she and Kain hold Ink between them and drag them along to where Kain parked his car.  
Maddie makes sure not to use her left hand too much, since she took Mustang’s broken wrist. She doubts that he even knew he’d had that with all the adrenaline in his blood.  
Usually she doesn’t baby people, and under different circumstances she’d have told him to suck it up, it’ll heal in time. But Mustang had looked very startled under his calm demeanour. That had probably been the first fight he’d been in since losing his sight in which Riza or someone else he trusts hadn’t been close to him the whole time.  
Sure, Maddie understands why that guy sent Riza away to go help too, but it was also really insensitive of him. So, Mustang deserves some babying today.

They put Ink into the car, and then Kain climbs onto the driver’s seat.  
Maddie smiles at him through the open car door.  
“I have to go do something, I’ll text you. Take good care of them.”  
“I will.”  
“I know you will.”

She closes the door and watches them drive away. Her eyes move to the school building that’s partly on fire. There’s barely any heroes or students left here, they have all left the school grounds to go home or to the hospital.  
Her eyes follow some sparks that catch on a nearby tree and set it on fire. Then there’s sirens approaching and a fire engine pulls up. The water extinguishes first the tree, then the school building.  
With a last glance at UA, Maddie turns around and walks down the road. She needs to go home and get her wrist put in a splint, make sure all scrapes and bruises are taken care of. Then maybe a nap.  
She closes her eyes briefly, thinking of warm arms waiting for her at home, and a tired smile pulls at her lips. A nap sounds good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Traitor Reveal 🤭  
> Bet some had forgotten about the traitor already, I have to admit, me too, only when beta reading this chapter to save it as a draft already I realised that the reveal is gonna happen Tuesday and I got really excited :D
> 
> Yeah I hope you liked this and also this little insight into Maddie's POV. Don't worry about not understanding her, Ink, or Ink and Kain's relationship, this was just a little teaser for the story Lee will maybe write some day about young Team Mustang & Ink's vigilante gang 🥰
> 
> Next chapter: interlude chapter with the Greedzawa family


	48. Chapter 48

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hospital visit & a radio show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: hospital, talk about suicidal thoughts, mention of past injury, mention of blood, implied/referenced child abuse, cursing
> 
> Manga spoilers: Hawks’ backstory*, Oboro Shirakumo 
> 
> *I don't read the manga so I don't actually know how much of my knowledge on Hawks is canon and what is fanon, so just... As a heads up :D I have my info from fanfic and occasionally Lee who does read the manga

The night after the events at UA, Greed comes home from the hospital to find Ling, Katsuki and Monoma curled up together on blankets and pillows they spread on the floor in Denki and Ling’s room. Monoma is lying with his face pressed against Ling’s back who’s in the middle, and then Katsuki with some distance on the other side, hugging a pillow. They all look freshly showered, Monoma’s hair clearly damp, so Katsuki probably made sure they cleaned up before going to bed. He’s proud of the kid.

It’s weird to only see the three of them, however. Denki is being monitored because of their concussion overnight, and Ed is being treated for his wounds even though Katsuki helped with the worst when he sealed the worst with heat.  
He’s also surprised that Monoma and Katsuki are tolerating each other, but then again he’s not really. These are special circumstances. You can forget a petty rivalry in the face of traumatic events.

Greed wants to climb into Ling’s bed and sleep there to keep an eye on them, but he’s still wearing the clothes he picked out for his date with Aizawa days ago, and they’re bloody and grimy with sweat and dirt by now. Also, his feet are gross, and his hair needs to be washed considering how it’s hanging in his face, all greasy and disgusting. It’s really surprising that Aizawa even kissed him in this state (then again he didn't look quite as bad at the beginning of the fight).  
So, instead of collapsing and falling asleep like he wants to, Greed drags himself over to his own room, grabs a set of clean sleepwear and then limps to the bathroom. His feet hurt from being barefoot during a fight. Also, he’s pretty sure he has frostbite. It is December after all, and there was snow outside of UA.  
In the shower, Greed sets the temperature of the water as high as he can handle it without burning his skin, then he starts scrubbing aggressively, trying to wash away the memories of the past few days.

When he steps out a while later and grabs a towel, his whole body is red from the heat and his rubbing. But he feels clean, at least.  
Dressed and his hair almost dry, he returns to the kids and watches them from the doorway for a moment with the light from the hallway illuminating them. He sees that Ling is awake, eyes red and puffy, so he shuts off the light, steps inside and closes the door behind himself.

“Hey,” he whispers then and steps closer in the dark. He can hear the boy shuffle around, and kneels on the floor, careful not to make too much noise. “Ed and Denki will be okay. The doctor said there’s no need to keep them long, Denki can come home tomorrow, Ed in a few days.”  
“What about Envy?” Ling whispers.  
Envy… Greed spoke to Envy’s doctor too, but he didn’t visit him, sure that he wouldn’t want to see him right now.  
“He’ll be okay too.”  
“I almost got him killed.” The kid’s voice breaks and he can hear him tear up again, so Greed sighs and then carefully squeezes himself between Ling and Katsuki, putting an arm around the blond so he doesn’t roll off the blankets, and pulls Ling into a hug with his other arm.

Ling starts crying and shaking, and Greed just holds him tightly, whispering quiet reassurances to him. Monoma wakes up eventually because of the noises and hugs Ling from behind, mumbling incoherent things in his state of not asleep but not fully awake.  
When the kid finally calms down, he just lies there silently for a while.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“It wasn’t your fault. It was beyond your control.”  
“But-”  
“No, Ling. Listen to me. You were scared because you thought I wanted to hurt you. Envy made the decision to save you all on his own. He didn’t regret it, and he definitely doesn’t blame you for any of the events.”

Ling stays quiet and just wipes his face. They stay still and eventually Ling’s breathing evens out and Greed knows he’s asleep.  
The kids stir a few times during the night, but Greed manages to calm them with quiet words and gentle touches, and eventually they’re all lying on him in some way. His arms are both asleep, his whole body is aching because it’s still not healing, and Ling’s hair is tickling his nose, but he doesn’t move or complain. He won’t sleep tonight anyways, so he can watch over them and give them the comfort they need.

\-----

The next morning, they eat a late breakfast, though the only one actually eating is Greed because he needs at least some energy from food to heal his feet, the kids mostly just stare at their food and push it around on the plates.  
With some convincing they each eat a few tiny bites before he allows them to put the rest into the fridge for later.

“Can we go visit Ed and Denki?” Ling asks after they cleaned the kitchen together.  
“Sure.” Greed rubs his face. “Go grab your jackets, it’s snowing.”

He gets a text from Aizawa asking if he can talk to him, so he texts him back if he can take them to the hospital. The other agrees, so they wait for him outside, the world feeling dull and solemn with the snow slowly falling, not making any sounds.  
In the car, he sits in the front while the kids climb into the back.

“Weird being here again, but this time with Greed,” Monoma mumbles.  
“Hm,” Katsuki agrees.  
They’re probably talking about the time he was kidnapped. He has yet to ask anyone what they did during that time, but there wasn’t a right moment yet.

\-----

At the hospital, they visit Denki first, but they're still asleep - or again -, so they make their way to Ed’s room, Katsuki only reluctantly, as he wants to stay with his significant other, but also wants to see his friend.  
Greed freezes in the doorway when he sees who’s sharing a room with Ed.

Envy looks pale and tiny, sleeping in the hospital bed. His hair is framing his head like a black halo, and his face looks relaxed.  
A hand touches his back, and he startles, looking over at Aizawa.  
“Let’s give the kids a moment and talk.”  
Greed looks at Ling who’s holding Ed’s hand, and Katsuki who starts braiding Ed’s hair. Monoma is standing by the wall, watching them.

“Yes, let’s talk.”

They find a spot at the end of the hallway by the window. The snow outside has gotten heavier, and Greed is glad he grabbed his coat.  
“Greed,” Aizawa mumbles and tears his attention away from the weather.  
His eyes focus on the man who looks as tired as Greed feels.  
He steps to him and pulls him into a tight hug.  
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he mumbles. Aizawa hugs him back just as tightly.  
“I’m sorry for tying you up when you were clearly scared of it.”  
“It’s fine. You had to.”  
“It’s not fine.”  
“Okay, then it’s not fine. I still forgive you, okay?”

Aizawa sighs and Greed feels his breath at his neck.  
“Okay…”

They separate again and Greed takes his hand instead. Together, they look out the window and watch the snow and cars for a bit.  
“This whole mess only just started, huh?”  
“You mean the fucking commission, Mic, everything?”  
“Yes…”

Yes, the mess only just started. But at least nobody of the students or teachers died during the attack on school, and all injuries are being treated, and the injured are expected to recover properly.  
They’ll have to wait and see what happens with the commission, how everything will change, or what they’ll do to make sure everything stays the same. Greed knows which side he’s on here. He never was a fan of hero society and their ideals and norms, and he wants a better world for misunderstood and mistreated people like Envy who just need a second chance and a lot of support.  
He’s not sure which side Aizawa is on… Mic said Aizawa should know that the commission is full of shit. Whatever they meant by that…

“What’s on your mind?” Aizawa asks, voice soft but kind of absent.  
“The commission and… What Mic said to you.”  
“Mic…”

Greed chews on his lip.  
“This whole situation sucks. Just tell me which side you’re on, please.”  
Aizawa looks at him, then out the window.  
“I should be on the commission’s side. They keep hero society in check, and I’m a pro-hero after all…”  
A child starts crying somewhere down the hallway.  
“But Mic is right. I know they are an awful organisation. They got my-”  
His voice breaks. Someone is talking to the child now, telling them to calm down.  
“They got Oboro killed.”

Oboro. So that’s the name of the mysterious boyfriend. Greed squeezes Aizawa’s hand that he’s still holding.  
“What happened?” he prompts quietly after a minute or two of them standing in silence. The child has stopped crying.  
Aizawa shakes his head.  
“Don’t,” he begs, so Greed lets it go. One day. But not today.  
“So we’re on the side of… Mic. The League. The children the commission endangers daily by how the schools are run?”  
“Yes…”

There’s so much they should talk about, but right now it all feels too… heavy. Too difficult. So Greed sighs and lifts their joined hands, kissing Aizawa’s knuckles gently.  
Then, they simply keep watching the snow through the window until the door to Envy and Ed’s room opens and Ling tells them that Envy woke up.

\-----

Greed looks down at Envy who’s glaring at him. Ling is standing next to him, and Envy’s face softens when the kid sits on the edge of his bed, tears in his eyes.  
“I’m so sorry.”  
“Wasn’t your fault.”  
“But if I had just stayed behind Greed and not looked at your father-”

Envy reaches out and tugs lightly on Ling’s braid.  
“Not your fault,” he says again firmly. Ling stares at his hands in his lap.  
“But…”  
“No buts. I wanted to save you, so I did. The only one I’m mad at is Greed. And that healer.”  
“But why?” Ling asks, wringing his hands.  
“Because they didn’t let me die.”

Violet, angry eyes turn to Greed then, who feels uncomfortable, but holds the gaze.  
“If you think I regret not letting you die, you’re wrong.”  
“But I wanted to! I was almost free! I felt so peaceful, and then you took that from me!” he yells, tears rolling down his face.  
Everyone else in the room is completely silent, watching the exchange.  
“Envy-”  
“Get out. I don’t want to talk to you again. I hate you.”  
Greed takes a step towards him and reaches out, but a hand lands on his shoulder. He looks at Aizawa, who looks pained but determined.  
“Come on, we should see if Denki is awake by now.”

One last glance at his baby brother crying angry tears, then the door closes between them and Greed’s lower lip starts trembling. He bites down on it until he tastes blood.

\-----

Denki is awake and after another checkup they’re free to leave. Katsuki holds their hand tightly on the way to the car, and Ling takes Greed’s hand.  
“I talked to Envy,” he says quietly. “I don’t think he actually hates you, he’s just hurting a lot…”  
Greed nods and squeezes the kid’s hand. He doesn’t talk because he thinks he might give away how much he’s hurting too then.

“So… what happens now?” Monoma asks when they’re in the car, Denki in Katsuki’s lap for lack of space.  
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Aizawa replies slowly. “There will probably be a meeting between commission officials and pro-heroes to discuss everything.”  
The silence that follows is uncomfortable, so Greed turns on the radio and the volume up. A song ends and then a familiar voice speaks up.

“Hello everybody. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, Mic, isn’t your radio show on weekends and only at night? That is correct dear listeners, but this is a special edition due to current events. You may have heard rumours about the hero world splitting into two, those on the side of the Public Hero Safety Commission, and those, like myself, who know the horrible things they’ve done and want society to change.”

There’s tension in the car, and Greed carefully watches Aizawa from the side. His knuckles are white with how tightly he’s gripping the steering wheel even though his eyes never leave the road as he's driving. 

“I have decided that it is my duty to lay out the facts for everyone to judge for themselves, and for this first broadcast I have a very special guest with me that many of you know. Before we start I would like to warn everyone listening that we’re about to hear some very gruesome details, so if you’re rather sensitive, better turn off the radio for the next half an hour when I will briefly summarise everything my dear guest told us.”

Greed looks over his shoulder and sees that the kids are listening attentively, and Katsuki catches his eyes and shakes his head.  
“Leave it on.”

“Hawks, thank you so much for coming here and speaking with us today.”  
“Of course, Mic.”

The hero sounds nervous, and Greed can’t blame him. He’s probably about to drop some dirty secrets of the commission, even dirtier than that they wanted him to kill another pro-hero.

“So, Hawks, you’re quite young, aren’t you?”  
“I’m twenty-two.”  
“And how old were you when you first became a top 10 pro-hero?”  
“Eighteen.”  
“Now, not to talk down on you or your abilities, but isn’t it unusual to rise to the top this quickly at such a young age?”  
“It is unusual, yes. But the commission made sure I could do it.”  
“Now that’s interesting. How about you tell us about your childhood and training with the commission?”

Greed stares at the road as Hawks slowly, voice shaking at times, talks about being bought by the commission and trained under awful conditions. He describes some surgical procedures to remove more bird features, how his quirk is actually more Hawk than Fierce Wings, but the commission made sure he was rid of all bird-like behaviour because it’s not something people would find appealing.  
Aizawa eventually parks the car outside a supermarket and they just listen to the interview. Mic is being really gentle with Hawks, encouraging him to keep talking and prompting him with questions. When the interview is almost over, Mic asks one last question.

“Hawks, what is your real name?”  
“The commission tried to make me forget it, so I wouldn’t be a person anymore, but just someone they could use for their goals. I pretended not to remember it so they’d leave me alone. I only recently started using it again…” 

There’s a moment of silence.

“I’m Keigo Takami. And I’m not your weapon anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally like that interview scene tbh, I just think Mic interviewing Hawks to educate the public would be neat
> 
> The thing with Hawks' quirk being more a bird quirk than a wing quirk is one of my headcanons/favourite fanon things btw, that's not canon or a spoiler, I just like the thought of him showing birdlike behaviour
> 
> Next chapter: the commission invites pro heroes to discuss the future of hero society


	49. Chapter 49

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a civil discussion between commission and pro heroes - right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood, stabbing, mention of someone burning alive, cursing
> 
> Happy December 1st! It feels like Halloween was just last week, but okay  
> I hope the lack of response on the last chapter doesn't mean you didn't like it coz it's one of my favourites 🤭
> 
> it's December, the last chapter will be uploaded on Christmas, so we're very close to the end 😳  
> There's some more heavier chapters ahead, but as the tags say, there'll be a happy ending, so worry not
> 
> PS: Lee is in online class as I post this so if you're on ao3 during class, this is your sign: close it and pay attention! love you xoxo

Two weeks after the fight, two days before Christmas, the hero society has split drastically into pro and anti commission. The heroes are split, but also the people. Mic did a good job informing everyone, and they stayed surprisingly neutral despite their clear position on the anti commission side, by interviewing pro commission people as well and hearing their side of the story. To Greed it’s obvious that the commission has to go. Sure, they’ll need another system, another way to deal with heroes and everything, but things definitely have to change.

On that day, the 22nd of December, Greed is sitting in the car with Aizawa, Midnight and Vlad King. They’re on their way to the commission building where the pro-heroes were invited to have a civil discussion about the future of hero society.  
Greed is buzzing with nervous energy, and so is Midnight, the other two are eerily calm.  
They haven’t seen Mic since the fight at UA, so they probably stayed with the League during that time. School didn’t take place anyways despite the building having been repaired rather quickly because the students were too riled up, arguing about the two different positions and which is right or wrong, sometimes escalating into physical fights.  
Greed saw Katsuki beat up a third-year a couple days ago who started misgendering Mic because of the traitor reveal, and he’s not ashamed to say that he simply looked the other way.  
The atmosphere is very tense in general, so Greed hopes that today that will finally change. Maybe they’ll find a compromise.

After Aizawa parks the car near the commission building, they climb out and slowly walk there together. Greed looks at Midnight and Vlad King, both of which had been in the middle considering their loyalties, but had decided to be against the commission when it became apparent that Aizawa still supports Mic despite their betrayal.  
Why is Greed here if this is for commission staff and pro-heroes only? Well, he insisted of course. Because this concerns his kids, and his brother, his brother’s new family, and his own new family with Aizawa. Also, he works at UA, so he experienced some of the commission’s failures first hand. He thinks he has every right to be here, and none of the other three protested when he simply followed them to the parking lot and climbed into the car with them.

As they get closer to the building, they can hear voices, and then they see that a lot of heroes are here already. Greed frowns when he sees All Might who had sided with the commission even as Midoriya ranted about why that’s maybe not the right choice. Katsuki was really angry when he’d heard, and yelled at All Might, but this hadn’t changed the former hero’s mind either.

Greed looks around. He recognises some faces from the UA fight, but not many as that had been mostly police with only a handful of heroes.  
He does recognise Endeavor who’s standing with a stern-looking woman with slicked back pale hair, and it makes his blood boil that this asshole is still number one hero.  
Midnight touches his arm and Greed forces himself to nod and relax a bit. He can’t go around killing people, this is supposed to be a civil discussion about the future of heroes and the commission.

They wait for more people to arrive, right there in the cold, and it all seems to be going well for a while until a bald guy with one blond strand and a blond woman with a pinched face show up.  
“We didn’t invite vigilantes, Armstrong,” the woman with the slicked back hair says icily. The man holds her gaze.  
“That’s why I invited them, Ma’am. I think they should be here for this just like the pro-heroes. It concerns them too.”

“Funny, we thought so too when we realised you didn’t invite the League.”  
Greed’s head spins around and he’s relieved when he sees that Mic is alright. He should hate them, he really should, for everything they put his kids, especially Katsuki through, but… he can see now why Mic did it, in a way. It wasn’t the right way, but the right goal.

“Hey, how’s Envy?” Dabi asks from next to Mic, the rest of the League behind them, having arrived together, eyes fixed on Greed. He expected himself to be jealous of Dabi for being Envy’s _preferred_ brother right now, but he isn’t. Really, he’s just glad Envy has a family now which he doesn’t hate.  
“Angry to be alive, but physically he’ll recover.”  
The villain relaxes his shoulders and nods once.

“Why did you bring those criminals?” Endeavor interrupts them with a booming voice. The flying kid, Hawks, or Takami as he wants to be called again, lands next to Endeavor and crosses his arms. Dabi joins him.  
“We brought them because like Armstrong said, just like the vigilantes, the League deserves to be here for this too. Their whole goal is, in the end, to reform hero society, so why not do it in a peaceful discussion with the important pros all in one spot?”

“They have no right to be here after murdering heroes and attacking students!” Endeavor looks furious.  
“Attacking students? Funny of you to be upset about that,” Dabi huffs and grins without humour.  
“What do you mean by that?”  
“Oh nothing at all.”  
“Can everybody please calm down?” a white-haired man behind the angry blond woman asks. He has snow goggles hanging around his neck and is wearing a blue coat with a fur collar.  
“I will not discuss this with villains, please leave,” the woman next to Endeavor says. Greed leans closer to Midnight.  
“Who is that?”  
“The Commission President.”

Well, that explains a lot. Greed already dislikes her.  
“Why not?” Mic asks. “They want to find a civil way to end the fighting once and for all. Isn’t that in everyone’s interest?”  
“Be glad we’re even here after you worked with that crazy guy who wanted to steal students,” Dabi adds, frowning.  
“That’s a lie,” Endeavor hisses.

“Everybody calm down so we can go inside and finally talk!” the blond woman next to goggles-guy barks.  
“You vigilantes have no right to be here either, leave!” the commission president replies.  
“Everybody, please. The heroes and commission staff should just go inside-”  
Greed interrupts All Might with narrow eyes:  
“You’re not leaving us out of this discussion.”

“Stop your childish arguing!” a broad orca guy speaks up. More people start talking and arguing, then there’s fire shooting towards Endeavor as Dabi and Takami attack him simultaneously.  
Greed looks at Aizawa and shrugs.  
“I’m sorry, but I’ve been waiting for this opportunity.”  
He turns to All Might and smiles at him, raising his hand. His shield snaps up, claws glinting in the sunlight.  
“Greed, don’t,” Aizawa says urgently, but Greed ignores him and jumps forward, punching the former hero in the face and then the stomach. He falls to his knees and coughs up blood, red droplets falling onto the pavement. Satisfaction floods Greed, but he looks over his shoulder and locks eyes with Aizawa.  
Aizawa, who’s so good and honest and for some reason cares about him.  
“Fuck,” he growls and then knocks All Might out. He can’t kill anymore. For Aizawa. He’ll become a better man for him, so he’s finally worthy of his affection.

Before he can check the teacher for a reaction, something sharp stabs him in the shoulder, and Greed freezes and stares at the… thing? His eyes follow it to its source. It’s a hero, of fucking course it is. The guy has spikey grey hair and is wearing a red and blue ninja like outfit, and the spear thing seems to be part of his body.  
Greed feels his own body starting to heal, but he doesn’t even have time to freak out remembering the warehouse, then the thing is gone.

“Eraserhead, he attacked All Might!” spikey hair guy yells, and Greed just really wants to kiss Aizawa for saving his ass again.  
“We need to stop fighting each other and talk about this.” Aizawa’s voice is angry.  
“He started it!”  
“Endeavor started it by getting pissy about the League being here too!” Greed snaps.  
“Stop erasing my quirk so I can take this traitor down!”

“Greed, watch out!” A girl’s voice. He spins around and sees an old tiny man in yellow approach him at top speed. His shield snaps up fully, but the kick still sends him flying backwards. Groaning, Greed gets up and blinks a few times. Spikey guy is keeping Aizawa occupied, apparently trying to fight him without his quirk now, but Aizawa is tying him up with his capture weapon. And the old guy- A blond girl is fighting him, knife in hand.  
Greed jumps up, shaking his head a few times before running to help her.  
“Who are you?” he calls, dodging another kick.  
“I’m Himiko Toga.” She grins at him, revealing pointy teeth. “Envy told me about you, so I figured I should help you out.”

A heavy feeling settles in Greed’s chest.  
“Thank you, Toga,” he says seriously, but not for warning him and sparing him a very bruised face. No, for being there for Envy. For being family for his baby brother.  
She seems confused for a second, then she just smiles again and attacks the old man.  
“Tell him we miss him! Dabi is even more grumpy than usual without him around.”  
“I’ll be sure to tell him.”  
“I think your boyfriend needs more help than me.”

Greed looks back to Aizawa, and it does seem like it. Aizawa’s capture weapon is ripped, and he’s frantically wiping his eyes.  
Anger fills him. What did that ninja-dressed hero do to his… boyfriend… Lover? He has no idea what to call Aizawa, but he will wreak havoc upon anybody who dares to touch him.

With swift movements, he makes his way over to them and kicks the hero in the face. Then he kneels down next to Aizawa, drops his shield over his hands and touches his shoulder. The man flinches, then relaxes.  
“What did he do?” Greed asks, barely keeping his fury under control. One of his hands gently pries away one of Aizawa’s that are pressed to his eyes, so he can see his face. His eyes are red and watering, but unharmed, and there’s dirty streaks around them.  
“Threw dirty snow in them so I had to stop using my quirk.”  
Greed growls and starts getting up, but Aizawa grabs his arm.  
“Don’t. We need to stop, all of us. This was supposed to be a discussion, not a fight.”

There’s footsteps behind them and Greed shields Aizawa with his body.  
“Stay away from him or I’ll rip your heart out through your throat and then feed it to you.”  
Aizawa strokes his shoulder gently to keep him calm.  
“Edgeshot, look around. Heroes are fighting heroes. We need to stop,” he says firmly, definitely using some sort of teacher/dad voice.  
Spikey guy - or Edgeshot as he’s apparently called - sighs and rubs his face. He seems torn, but then his shoulders droop.  
“Fine. But how do we stop everyone from fighting?”  
“We worry about that when I helped him with his eyes, asshole,” Greed mutters and turns back to Aizawa, stroking his cheek.

“Here.” Edgeshot holds out a tissue and Greed rips it from his hand a tad too aggressively. He doesn’t really care, just focuses on wiping the dirt from Aizawa’s eyes.  
“I still wanna punch him,” he grumbles.  
“I’m fine, Greed. It’s just some dirt. This has happened plenty of times before.”  
“Still.”  
“Yeah yeah.”

Greed is so focused on the task at hand, he barely registers it when he hears Takami scream in anguish, only when Aizawa tenses up. Scared what he might see, Greed turns towards the noise. And there's the kid, lying on the floor, staring at a writhing figure, surrounded by red flames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the cliffhanger! But you only have to wait till Friday!
> 
> Greed wanting to change for Aizawa and not acting on his grudge towards All Might for him, how are we feeling?
> 
> Next chapter: POV Hawks
> 
> PS: the characters mentioned in case you're confused:  
> Slicked back pale hair = commission president  
> Bald with one blond Strand = Alex Louis Armstrong  
> Blond woman that came with him = Olivier Armstrong  
> White haired man with snow goggles & coat = Miles  
> Orca guy = Gang Orca (obvious, but I still wanted to add it)  
> Old man in yellow = Gran Torino


	50. DabiHawks vs. Endeavor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: implied/referenced child abuse, broken bones, burning skin & burning alive (marked start!!! and end!!!), kinda graphic vomiting (marked start* and end*), beating to near death, blood, death, cursing
> 
> Heavy chapter, please be careful and skip the worst part (start!!! to end!!!) if you have to!

**Keigo**

“First you lie about having to kill a hero and then you make up some sob story about abuse to harm the commission, and for what? Because you’re sleeping with a villain.”  
Keigo narrows his eyes at Endeavor.  
“I didn’t make that up,” he snaps.  
“I’m not surprised that he pretends not to believe you,” Dabi drawls and steps closer to Keigo. “Abusers tend to defend other abusers.”  
Endeavor is fuming.  
“Abuser? How dare you!”  
“Come on now, don’t deny it, you know that I’m right, _dad_.”

Keigo watches Endeavor for a reaction, but he just seems even angrier. So he probably suspected it and just hoped it wouldn’t come up. Bastard. Keigo can’t believe he used to look up to him.  
“You’re an asshole,” Keigo says.  
“And you’re a whiny little brat who probably deserved everything he got.”

Before Keigo can react, Dabi has blasted fire at Endeavor who smoothly dodges it.  
“Nobody talks to Keigo like that,” Dabi hisses and moves forward, Keigo following, feathers sharpening.  
Together they push Endeavor back, Dabi with fire, Keigo with feathers, but they mostly just burn when they get too close, so he’s a little helpless, watching his boyfriend fight his father.  
He sees Miruko running towards them but shakes his head.  
“Go help someone else,” he calls and she doesn’t hesitate, just trusts him and nods, turning the other direction.  
Keigo spots an opening between the flames and sends two feathers towards Endeavor, cutting into his arm and side. He feels cruel satisfaction, but then his feathers burn and he can’t do much more. Maybe he has to change his strategy, so he looks around.  
His eyes stop at the snow on the ground. It’s melted around Dabi and Endeavor, but a little away from them…  
With swift motion, he flies over to a tree and scoops up as much snow as he can carry, then he flies above Endeavor and drops it on him, extinguishing the flames around his head briefly. 

The hero curses and Keigo smirks and dodges the flames that are being aimed at him. All this gives Dabi the opportunity to finally land a hit with his fire, and Endeavor yells in pain. Keigo swoops back next to Dabi and smiles coldly.  
“Good job, Birdie,” Dabi mumbles.  
“Let’s end him, once and for all.”

After having heard everything about Endeavor’s abuse, and knowing the commission will back him and defend him, Keigo knows they can’t solve this any other way but by killing him. He’s ready to do so, he can accept blood on his hands when it’s from a man who hurt his own children so much that he almost killed one of them.

For a while Keigo loses himself in the fight. He helps as much as he can with his feathers and more snow, but it’s difficult, especially because he can see that Dabi is hurting from using his quirk so much. They have to end this, quickly. Maybe, if he’s quick enough…

“Hey, Endeavor,” Keigo snaps and shoots forward towards him, tightly gripping one of his bigger feathers that’s sharpened into a deadly weapon. With ease he manages to dodge the flames being shot at him and circles around the man, lifting his hand, ready to cut his neck. He’s fast, sometimes too fast for his own good, but this time, he loses focus for one second because he hears Dabi hiss in pain.  
A hand snatches Keigo by the hair and he stares at those blue eyes, so different from Dabi’s, then he’s screaming in agony as the rest of his wings goes up in flames. Endeavor drops him and Keigo rolls onto his back, trying to extinguish himself before his clothes and hair catch fire too. It hurts so badly, he has to bite on hand so he doesn’t make more sounds. He can’t be weak right now. He has to keep helping Dabi.

So, ignoring the pain, he pushes himself to his knees and then gets up stumbling. He looks at Dabi and Endeavor engulfed in flames, yelling at each other. Keigo takes a wobbly step forward, hears Dabi tell his father that he will kill him slowly and enjoy every second, that he will never let him touch Keigo again.

It all goes downhill a few seconds later, when the flames die down a bit and he can see Endeavor lying on the floor. Dabi is grinning, and Hawks starts to relax when he sees Endeavor raise a hand.  
“He’s awake!” he yells, but it’s too late.

**start!!!**

Right there in front of his eyes Dabi bursts into flames, clothes, hair, skin, Keigo screams his name and starts running, trying to reach him, grab him and drag him to snow. Endeavor doesn’t stop with the fire, and Keigo burns his hands trying to get to Dabi, almost catching on fire himself.  
Then, he suddenly gets pulled backwards and falls to the floor. Even as he tries, he can’t get back up, and he can’t pull himself forward on the floor.  
All he can do is watch his boyfriend burn even as Endeavor’s hand is being forcefully wrenched backwards by seemingly nothing and the constant stream of fire finally stops.

“Touya! No!”

The scream startles him and he looks in the direction of it. There’s Natsuo, being held back by Shigaraki, thrashing around and screaming for his brother again and again.

“Takami,” a voice startles him and he realises why he fell and can’t get up.  
“Best Jeanist,” he mumbles numbly. “What…”  
“You can’t help him anymore, boy.”

Keigo’s eyes snap over to Endeavor who’s fighting against something invisible. No, against Best Jeanist holding him down, Keigo realises. This is his chance.  
He pushes to his feet, fabric letting him now that Jeanist is next to him anyways.  
The smell of burnt flesh and hair is making him gag, but he pushes the blond man’s hands away and grits his teeth, walking towards Endeavor with shaky steps.

**end!!!**

“Takami,” Jeanist starts, but Keigo ignores him.  
“No. He took him from me. He took him!”

He reaches the hero and kicks him in the head. Endeavor tries harder to get up, but Jeanist is still holding him down.  
“You took him from me. He was my everything!” Tears fill his eyes and he angrily blinks them away. “You took my heart.”  
“He was nothing but a filthy criminal,” Endeavor snaps, and Keigo starts laughing. He laughs and laughs, doubling over and holding his stomach.  
“You made him into one!” he then yells and kicks his face again and again. “You hurt him until he had to run and become a villain to survive!”  
A nose crunches under his boot, the jaw gives in, and he doesn’t stop. Instead, he drops to his knees and starts hitting him with his fists, needing to _feel_ the impact.

“Takami,” Best Jeanist says behind him, closer than before. “Stop, you’re hurting yourself.”  
Keigo pauses and stares at his hands. The skin at his knuckles is split open and his hands are bloody, not only from Endeavor’s blood.  
“I have to kill him.”  
“He’s barely conscious anymore.”  
“It’s not enough!”  
“Kid-”  
“No!” he yells and looks up at Best Jeanist, tears starting to stream down his face. “It’s not enough, he has to be gone, he has to go! He has to die! Dabi wanted him to die! That was his goal all this time! To kill him! I have to do it for him! I have to! I _have to_!”  
His voice is hysterical, and Best Jeanist looks so sad as he watches him. But he nods and takes a step back.

Keigo stares down at Endeavor, barely recognisable anymore with his face bloody and swollen. And suddenly, he can’t bear touching him anymore, he can’t bear being close to this piece of shit. So, he pushes his shoulders back and grabs the man’s neck.  
“The commission taught me this,” he whispers and then snaps his neck.

Best Jeanist catches him when he gets up and stumbles backwards, almost falling again.  
“It’s over. You did it for him.”  
“I need to… Where-”  
His body hurts all over, he can feel the burn on his back, and he stumbles again as he tries to walk.  
“Please, I need-”  
“You shouldn’t see him like this.”  
All the pain, physical and emotional, hits Keigo and his knees buckle. Best Jeanist catches him and holds him close while Keigo cries and sobs. He and Dabi were supposed to have a calm and happy future together after the hero society changed for the better.  
Now he’s all alone. Forever.

**start***

He can’t seem to calm himself down, and in combination with the physical pain and the awful smell of a burnt body nearby, he starts retching.  
Jeanist holds his hair back and him upright as he empties his stomach right there on the floor next to them, still heaving when there’s nothing left but stomach acid.  
Finally, Jeanist drags him to the side, away from the smell and the body, and Keigo is crying again, face buried at the hero’s shoulder.

**end***

His grieving is interrupted by an ear-piercing scream that has everyone freezing in shock. Keigo knows it’s Present Mic without looking. He doesn’t have the strength to lift his head.

“Stop! Everybody! Didn’t enough people die already?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I really am
> 
> Next chapter: POV Natsuo, POV Havoc, POV Mic
> 
> PS: on a lighter note, Lee made me buy purple hair dye so I'll possibly get Shorter's hairstyle 👁️👄👁️ (from Banana Fish, don't Google him if you don't know him and wanna watch the anime, spoiler warning, basically he has a purple mohawk but I'll just dye it purple and then shave the sides and some of the back I think)


	51. Three different POVs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight from some other POVs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: fire & burnt skin, blood, stabbing, hurting oneself for quirk purposes, mention of dead burnt body, mention of death, cursing
> 
> Three different POVs! (reminder that Team Mustang worked with Ink, Maddie and the other vigilantes in the past and that's how Jean etc know them)

**Natsuo**

Natsuo and Tomura had been on a date when they got the message from Dabi that the commission is meeting with all heroes in an hour. So, naturally, Natsuo had insisted on coming along.  
He starts regretting it around the time his brother and Keigo start fighting Endeavor, but he’s not worried about his father at all. He doesn’t really want him to die, but he also wouldn’t be too sad if he did. Maybe that makes him cruel, but he doesn’t really care if he’s honest. He knows that in the long run it’d be better for everyone. Keigo would be the new number one hero, keeping the people way safer than Endeavor could.

Natsuo thinks they might just wait out their fight, but of course others start fighting too, and one of those is his boyfriend. And he starts fighting the Flame Alchemist of all people.  
“Tomura no!” Natsuo calls as Tomura grabs the man’s hand and dusts his glove. “We’re not here to fight!”  
“Roy, let it go!” A guy in a wheelchair calls over to them, but the hero doesn’t listen, just snaps with the hand that still has a glove, and fire shoots forward. Natsuo curses and pushes Tomura out of the way, but the Flame Alchemist doesn’t hesitate to shoot more fire, and the villain boss is on his knees, unable to shield himself in any way.  
Natsuo makes the decision in a matter of seconds, and somehow, he feels really calm about it. His body moves to the side and in front of Tomura, his hands raise and ice shoots from them, slow and weak, nothing like Shouto’s right side. It does nothing to help, and he sees the flames melt it in an instant. Then the fire hits him and Natsuo smells burning hair and absently thinks _Oh no, I hope whoever has burning hair is alright._  
Then someone pushes him to the ground and slaps him repeatedly with something that feels like cloth, and finally Natsuo’s brain returns to reality and he gasps when he feels the pain all over his body. He looks down at himself and sees charred clothes and burnt skin, then he looks at Tomura whose eyes are blown wide with panic, jacket in his hands which he probably used to extinguish the fire.

“I’m okay,” he mumbles. “It hurts, but I’m okay.”  
He coughs from the smoke and tries to sit up, but Tomura pushes against his shoulder. “Don’t move. You’ll hurt yourself more.”  
“Look what you did!” the wheelchair guy yells, but Natsuo is only looking at Tomura.  
“I couldn’t let you die. We need you.”  
“Never do that again,” the villain hisses, fear turning into anger. “How can you be so stupid and risk your life for someone like me? Never do that again, do you hear me? Never again!”  
Natsuo smiles weakly and it pulls uncomfortably at his skin.  
“Can’t promise that, sorry. Guess it’s a hero complex.”

**Jean**

Jean is upset with Roy. Of course he can’t let a harmless attack slide but has to go for the kill like the over-achiever he is.  
“Look what you did!”  
“I didn’t mean to-”  
Riza puts a hand on Roy’s shoulder.  
“We’re on their side, remember? We want things to change, so let’s not fight them!”  
“Why is Havoc here anyways?” Roy grumbled.

Jean rolls his eyes.  
“Because we didn’t expect a fight?”  
They get interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Do you always stand around while your allies are fighting?”  
“Meds,” Roy says in greeting, sounding slightly ashamed. Maddie makes you feel ashamed easily when you made a mistake.  
“‘Course not.” Jean focuses on a tiny old hero in yellow that’s fighting the girl that arrived with the League and makes him feel panic, his own heart rate picking up too, sweat spreading on his hands and forehead. The hero stumbles in his attack and stares at the girl who then manages to knock him out. Jean looks at Maddie for approval, but she’s a few feet away, knife in hand and plunges it into her thigh.  
Jean knows that that’s how she fights, but he’ll never get over how fucked up it really is that she’s so casual about pain and injuring herself. He watches as she touches someone fighting Present Mic and they fall to the ground in surprise at the sudden pain. She stabs them in the other leg for good measure.

Tearing his eyes away from her, he looks at Riza who has knelt down next to the man Roy burnt and the villain boss who was supposed to be hit. Fuery joins her quickly, first aid kit in his hands.  
Jean feels a little useless right now because in the snow here off to the side where they are he needs someone to push his wheelchair, and he can’t just quickly move around to help out physically, and he’s not sure if his quirk is enough to be of use.  
“Jean,” Maddie calls and he snaps out of his thoughts. “Gang Orca!” she adds and he turns his head to see the pro-hero storm towards Mic who’s busy fighting off another person already who’s probably commission staff.  
Jean focuses really hard on Gang Orca, but he’s not sure what emotion might help. He’s blanking! What even are emotions?

About two meters away from Mic, a figure appears from the side and Gang Orca is pushed to the side so he stumbles past Mic instead.  
Blond hair hidden under the hood of their usual cropped sleeveless shirt, lower half of the face covered by a black mask. Their leather pants glint in the sun, and Jean leans back in his chair, breathing.

“Kain brought his crush!”  
“Don’t let him hear you call Ink that or he’ll die of embarrassment,” Maddie warns.  
Jean smirks, a lot calmer now. Roy may not like them very much, but Ink is very skilled and just who they need right now.  
“I don’t care, I need to tease him with this ‘till the day I die, older brother law.”  
“You’re not even- You know what, I don’t care, I should help out around here, I don’t have time to chat.”

**Hizashi**

When everything starts to go downhill, Hizashi has one goal: get to the commission president and… They’re not sure yet what they should do, but definitely take her out, either with unconsciousness or death. She deserves it for what she did to Takami, and how she keeps endangering children like Oboro.  
As they move towards the woman, they hear their name being called and see Midnight a little away, shaking her head.  
“Don’t do anything stupid,” she yells, and Hizashi grits their teeth.  
“Sorry, Nemuri,” they mumble and keep moving while Midnight is being distracted by a man with a chainsaw instead of an arm.  
But before they can get close enough, a commission staff member blocks their path and they shrug.  
“Good enough for now. You’re all full of shit.”  
They get their gear ready, determined to win this, and the first one they manage to knock out rather easily. Their focus is distracted when Natsuo screams for his brother, but Hizashi doesn’t have time to check what’s going on because there’s another bastard in a suit.

This second one is a little tougher, but for a minute or two it’s still looking good, but they very much appreciates the help from the woman with the knife who somehow hurts herself and then transfers the injury to the staff member.  
For a few moments Hizashi just stands there and looks around to see how the others are doing. They spot Midnight fighting Fatgum with Miruko, rather half-heartedly though as if they’re not quite sure if he’s even on the opposite side of them or not.

Further back towards the street there are Ryuku and Mt. Lady fighting Sako and Kurogiri who get help from Armstrong after a moment.

Then Hizashi searches for Takami and Dabi in the crowd, but they can’t spot them.  
Fine, they're busy anyways. The commission president seems to just be surveying the surrounding fights too, so Hizashi hurries towards her, but then there’s footsteps behind them and they spin around to see Gang Orca being pushed to the side by someone with a hood and mask on.  
Without pause, they pull something out of their arm, a weapon, and attack Gang Orca. Hizashi would watch them to figure out their quirk, but they’re busy.  
So, they turn again, and their mouth falls open when they see the blond woman who arrived with Armstrong and is probably his sister, stand above the body of the commission president. She’s definitely dead.

Hizashi opens their mouth to say something, distracted by something happening to their right. There’s Best Jeanist who they didn’t even see arrive, and he’s holding Takami. The young hero is shaking so badly Hizashi can see it clearly even from a distance.  
Their eyes wander and spot a charred body and then Endeavor, bloody and most likely dead.  
There’s more injured people around, and at least three dead ones. They had enough. This is all ridiculous. They came here to have a civil discussion, this should have never escalated!

So, they square their shoulders and then use their quirk to scream and get everyone’s attention. All eyes turn on them, and they nod and continue.

“Stop! Everybody! Didn’t enough people die already?!”

It seems to work because people drop their weapons and fighting stances, and some look ashamed or horrified.  
Hizashi doesn’t even see them coming, they just hear Toga shout their name and then sharp metal buries itself in their throat. 

Mic gurgles and collapses on the ground, own hands wrapping around their neck and the knife around which warm blood is slowly pooling and dripping down to keep it in.  
Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cliffhanger 😬😳  
> But once again you only have to wait 3 days!
> 
> Hope you liked those POVs, they finally wrap up the parts of the fight I wanted to show, so no more backtracking to show a different POV! Now it continues chronologically
> 
> (also, in case you noticed and were confused: I changed the final chapter count from 56 to 57 because thanks to your lovely comments I keep writing down things I have to mention again, consequences of some stuff, scenes I wanna add, so I decided to add one more chapter for some of that stuff. The fic will still end on the 25th of December though, so no delay there)
> 
> Also, for the Banana Fish fans, if there's any here: I'll upload some festive Oneshots soon, if you wanna check them out 🥰  
> And for the Mob Psycho 100 fans: currently halfway through season 2 and loving it so so much, so I'll definitely be writing in this fandom soon too, so excited to write another parental figure 🥺
> 
> Enough talking now, have a nice day all of you! And especially Lee, love you 💕


	52. Chapter 52

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood, stab wound, mention of burns, mention of death, cursing  
> Manga Spoiler Warning: Oboro Shirakumo
> 
> Finally, the end of the fight  
> kinda short, but enjoy

After hearing the kid scream and seeing Dabi burn, Greed is torn between what to do. He doesn’t trust Edgeshot to stay with Aizawa, and the man is still squinting and rubbing at his eyes. His capture weapon is broken, too.  
He smacks the floor in frustration, but when he looks over at Takami again, there’s a blond man with him, so he decides that they have it under control. He can’t be everywhere at once. Dabi will surely be fine. He has a fire quirk too. He _has_ to be fine. For Envy.  
FUCK. He can’t think about this right now.

Instead, Greed grabs some clean snow from a tree close to them, and that finally helps Aizawa get the last of the dirt out of his eyes. Then they stand there for a moment, unmoving in the middle of the chaos, looking at everyone fighting, and Edgeshot admits that they have to stop it.  
Greed moves to help out around them, but Aizawa holds his arm tightly. Right. Maybe they shouldn't get involved in more fights.  
But what are they supposed to do instead?  
He doesn’t even dare to look in the direction of Takami and Dabi. He doesn’t want to know if Envy lost someone again. Maybe it makes him a coward, but he just can’t make himself look. So he’s frozen in place, not knowing what to do, how to help, how to make everyone listen. Aizawa and Edgeshot are similarly helpless and overwhelmed with the whole situation.

The one who does finally stop the fighting is Mic.

“Stop! Everybody! Didn’t enough people die already?!”

It’s eerily silent as everyone freezes and turns to look at them.  
Greed relaxes for a second, then he hears Toga scream Mic’s name, and in the next moment Mic is collapsing, hands pressed to their throat to keep the blood from spilling out.

“Hizashi!”

Aizawa moves quicker than Greed has ever seen him move, but he doesn’t hesitate to follow him. They fall down next to Mic, and Aizawa flails his hands uselessly.  
“Fuck! Don’t you dare die now! I’m still angry with you, so you have to stay to make it up to me.”  
“To me too,” Greed mumbles and presses his hands on top of Mic’s, then looks around for someone to help them. His eyes find the woman who saved Envy, but she’s pale and looks a second from collapsing. A small guy with glasses grabs her arm and shakes it lightly.  
“It’s okay, you don’t have to take it.”

Of fucking course he can’t ask her to take that injury and die in Mic’s place, but they’re running out of time. They have to do something, so Greed grabs a piece of Aizawa’s torn capture weapon that’s still tangled in his clothes and wraps it around the injury, not daring to remove the knife, trying to put enough pressure on it without choking Mic. They hold still, but aren’t focusing on him, they’re looking at Aizawa instead.

“Sho’,” Mic manages, whispering.  
“Don’t talk,” Aizawa hisses.  
They spit out some blood. “O...bo...ro.”

Mic’s eyes move to a spot behind Greed, and he wonders if they’re losing consciousness, but Aizawa follows their gaze and his eyes widen slightly. So, Greed turns his head too, and sees a guy in a suit with some sort of smoke or black fog covering his head, yellow eyes in the fog. He’s approaching with quick steps.  
“I will take them to the hospital with a portal. We need to hurry.”  
“Natsuo needs a doctor too,” a guy with white hair says. “And Keigo.”

Aizawa nods absently, still staring at fog guy, but a blond man dressed head to toe in jeans who was with Takami earlier steps forward, guiding the kid with him who stumbles and looks absolutely awful, wings gone and back covered in nasty burns.  
Greed forces himself not to think about what this means for Dabi. He can’t think about that right now. He _can’t_.  
“I’ll go with you to make sure they actually get help,” Blondie says, but there’s quick protests from all around.

“You’re the new number one, you can’t leave!”

“We need you if this is supposed to work! The commission president and Endeavor are both dead, you have to tell us what to do!”

“I’ll go.” A woman with bunny ears steps forward and takes Takami from Blondie.

They hurry then after wasting more than enough time even though it can’t have been much more than a minute. Another member of the League - he’s wearing a hat, a yellow coat and a mask - goes with them too, supporting both Natsuo and Mic.

When the portal closes, there’s silence again, and nobody moves.

Greed finally feels the cold again, adrenaline draining from his body. A hand grabs his despite the sticky blood coating his fingers, and he looks at Aizawa, still kneeling in the snow next to him, looking confused and lost.

“Let’s finally go inside and follow the original plan of having a civil discussion,” jeans guy says, sounding like he’s desperately trying to keep up a calm demeanour for everyone else’s sake. “Everyone, vigilantes, heroes, villains,” he adds, and slowly, the people start moving and entering the building, a bunch of heroes and commission staff looking unhappy, but at least not complaining.  
Greed stays on the floor with Aizawa, holding his hand. When they’re alone, he looks at him.  
“I’m with you. Whatever Mic meant… You can explain another time. Or never. But I’m here, okay? I got you.”  
With a sigh, Aizawa leans his head against Greed’s shoulder and stays there for a few moments, breathing calmly.  
Then, he gets up and pulls Greed with him.

“Okay. Let’s figure out what the future of our society looks like.”

Greed keeps his eyes on the ground as they walk. He doesn’t want to know about the future.  
But he has to face it. And at least he’s not alone in this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked this :3  
> next chapter is one i'm veeery unsure about, but I hope Lee can still help me fix it before next Tuesday
> 
> next up: the changes Best Jeanist makes to society, or: it is obvious that Ella is very in love with Best Jeanist
> 
> PS: The overall fight took around 10 minutes, so it really wasn't long, just in case anyone was confused about the different events with the different perspectives


	53. Chapter 53

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Best Jeanist changes society

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of past injury, mention of past death  
> Manga Spoilers: Oboro Shirakumo
> 
> chapter tags: coming out, please remember that this is fanfic so it is not fully realistic!

Greed sits heavily next to Aizawa in the big conference room, leaning his head onto his hands, elbows on the table. Everyone around them looks rather conflicted, and he can’t blame them. It’s a weird situation.

All Might is there too, so he woke up again from where Greed knocked him out. He kind of wants to punch him again, but instead of doing that, his eyes close, and he feels himself drift off.  
It’s not even physical exhaustion, the fight can’t have been longer than ten minutes. No, it’s the mental toll of the past month or so, finally catching up to him. He needs a vacation, or forty hours of sleep with no interruption.

Before he fully enters the world of dreams, he can feel Aizawa stroking his arm, and knows that it’s okay for him to sleep. Aizawa will catch him up on everything later. He can rest for now.

\-- ------ --

“Best Jeanist is the new number one now, and he said he wants to completely reform the way society treats villains and criminals,” Aizawa says as he opens the car door for Greed.

“He sounded pretty confident,” Midnight adds. “Let’s see if the rest of the commission will listen to him. After he said he wants to disband them.”

Greed huffs. That really is bold, but he somehow has fate in the denim man.

Midnight and Vlad King climb into the back, and Aizawa on the driver’s seat, then he starts the car.

“There’s a couple programs he wants to start, anti-bullying ones for kids with villainous quirks, support for them, etc.”  
“What about Envy?” Greed asks, not really caring that he’s interrupting. He doesn’t need to know everything about the general changes right now, he’s worried about his brother. “And the League. They’re his family now. What about all of them?”

Aizawa sighs and stops at a red light.  
“Well, Best Jeanist wants to go easy on them. Not everyone was happy about that.”  
“They did save his life and kept him hidden and safe for a while,” Midnight throws in and Greed nods.  
“I’d go easy on them too. What does going easy mean?”  
“We don’t know yet. There’ll be more discussions, in court, we’ll know more in a few days. He wants to move it along rather quickly.”

Relaxing a bit, Greed leans his head against the window and watches the buildings move past as they continue on.

“What about..:”  
He bites his lip and rubs his face.

“How many died?” he then asks.  
“Three,” Vlad King says. “Endeavor, the commission president, and the villain Dabi.”  
“Don’t call him that.” Greed traces the kanji symbol for apologise on the window. “He was important to my brother.”

Vlad King stays silent.

They drop him off a few minutes later, and then Aizawa clears his throat again.

“Nemuri, would you be willing to take in the kids for a while?”

Greed looks at him surprised, but he must be missing something, because she agrees immediately.  
“Of course. It’ll be a tight fit for all of them, but we’ll make it work. Don’t worry about it.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Hold up, what’s going on? Your kids? Shinsou and Eri?”  
“Yours too. We will… I’ll explain later, okay? Let’s get Nemuri home first, and then talk to the kids.”

Greed is a little taken aback, but he trusts both Aizawa and Midnight, so he nods and watches the world outside the window again.

\-- ------ --

After dropping off Midnight, they go to Aizawa’s apartment and get Shinsou and Eri, then they’re on their way to Greed’s place. He’s tapping on the window with his pinky, still kind of lost as to why they’ll have to leave the kids with Midnight. Is he somehow in trouble? Does Best Jeanist want to punish him for being related to Father? Or did someone find out about the people he killed?

But he doesn’t ask, just tries to wait patiently instead.

Finally at his place, he calls everyone into the living room and looks at all of the kids, one by one.

Ling, who he adopted first, his hair openly falling over his shoulders, looking tired and worried.  
Denki, who came next, arms crossed in front of their chest, staring back, clearly waiting for the news.  
Katsuki, wearing pyjamas, hair a mess, indicating that he’d been asleep already. It’s seven, so that’s early even for him. He must have had a bad day.  
Then Neito, face slightly pinched, like he has a headache.

And finally Aizawa’s kids, of course.  
Shinsou, holding Eri on his lap, both looking tired, but Shinsou has a worried glance in his eyes.

“Okay, please finally tell me what’s going on before I spiral into the panic I’m still somehow holding back,” Greed snaps when Aizawa stays silent, also studying the teens and the child.

Aizawa reaches out and grabs his hand.

“Until we know more about his sentence, I told Best Jeanist we’d take in your brother, Envy. He could have been released from the hospital a while ago already, but they kept him because of his suicidal thoughts. He’ll get mandatory therapy, and probably social work with a quirk ban for a while.”

Greed nods slowly.

“I said we’d take him in. I vouched for him for you and promised that we’d make sure he sticks to his conditions of probation he will most likely get. And since he’s being complicated towards you, I don’t want you to have to deal with him alone. But I don’t want him around the kids just now, so that’s where Nemuri comes in.”

Understanding floods him, and Greed feels a little choked for a second.  
“You don’t know Envy, but you vouched for him anyways.”  
“I trust you, and you love him so much. How could I not?”

“Hold up, what’s going on?” Ling asks, so Aizawa fills them all in briefly too.

Eri is excited to spend some time with Aunt Nemuri, not fully understanding what’s going on, and Shinsou doesn’t seem to mind it either. Greed’s kids are a little unsure at first, but Greed promises them that it won’t be for too long, so they finally agree.

In two days they’ll move in with Midnight, and Greed and Aizawa will pick up Envy from the hospital and live with him in Greed’s apartment for a while until they know more and can form a solid plan.

\-- ------ --

The next day, Greed helps the kids pack some stuff in the morning. When Neito asks him, however, he leaves them to it and accompanies him to his house.

A woman in her thirties opens the door, and Neito greets her, asking if his parents are home. Luckily, they are, so they’re led into the living room.

“Mother, father, I decided I’m going to move out. This is my friend Greed, he’s helping me grab my things.”  
“What?” Neito’s mother asks, blinking, tears filling her eyes. Greed thinks she’ll try to stop him, talk about how much she loves her boy and wants him to stay, but she doesn’t. Instead what she says is:

“I am so proud of you, Neito. Moving out at sixteen? You’re so mature already.”

It kind of makes Greed angry that she’s twisting it like this. She’s not even asking why Neito is leaving.

“Do you need our financial support, son?” the father asks, and Greed steps in.

“No thank you, Sir, we got it covered.”

Neito looks at him surprised, and yes, Greed knows that they could use the money. Probably rather desperately. But he doesn’t want to take money from two people that care so little about their child that they let him move out at sixteen without asking questions. They don’t even want to know who he is, why Neito is friends with a grown man.

It’s all one large red flag, so Greed does not want their money. He can handle this on his own. He can be a good father without financial support from parents who absolutely failed their son.

Neito studies him, a weird expression on his face. Greed wonders if he figured out why he said no.

But in the end, they just go up to Neito’s room and pack some of his things. They’ll come back for the rest some other time.

Back outside while waiting for the bus, Neito suddenly hugs Greed.  
Greed puts a hand on his head and holds him.  
“That was stupid,” the kid mumbles. “We should have taken all their money.”  
“I’m past taking money from awful people.”  
“I know.”

The _Thank you_ is unspoken, yet Greed can hear it as if Neito yelled it. He smiles and adjusts his hold on the kid and the kid’s suitcase.

“You’re welcome.”

\-- ------ --

After moving in, Envy is mostly hiding in his room - Ling and Denki’s room, which he’s staying in - but he really is not appreciating what Greed and Aizawa are doing for him. Not that either of them mind that. They told him about Dabi, and he completely lost it, yelling and sobbing. So the silence may be scary, but it’s also slightly better than his breakdown.

Some court hearings are on the following days, and while Greed has to stay home to keep an eye on Envy, Aizawa sits through them and updates him on the ones that interest Greed.

Apparently the justice system will be pushed more in the direction of reforming and rehabilitating villains rather than just punishing them.

“Your siblings will all get mandatory therapy, only the oldest ones go to prison. Envy and… what was your other brother’s name again?”  
“Gluttony?”  
“Yes, Gluttony. They both are on parole with social work, like I thought, so as long as they stick to the rules they got and go to therapy and work, they don’t have to go to prison. Best Jeanist argued that they’re rather young and were heavily manipulated.”  
“He decided Envy’s fate without Envy actually being there?”

Aizawa rubs his neck.  
“I actually told him Envy isn’t feeling well enough to be present for that. I figured he might say something he doesn’t mean in his grief and anger, and get himself in trouble. I made sure he was being treated and judged fairly even without him there, I promise.”  
Greed nods, smiling faintly.  
“Thank you.”  
“Someone will come here over the course of the next days to discuss everything with him, and then we should be able to find a routine.”

But there’s hesitancy in his voice, and he seems slightly on edge.  
Greed reaches out from where he’s sitting on the couch next to him, and brushes some hair behind his ear.

“What else has been decided?”

Aizawa leans his head on Greed’s shoulder.

“The League isn’t going to prison either. They get pretty much the same sentence as your youngest brothers. Toga is living with Best Jeanist until she turns eighteen. Kurogiri…”

Greed lets him take his hand and squeeze it.

“Kurogiri is trying to recover his memories with a special therapist.”  
“He’s the one with the portal quirk, right?”  
“Yes. He…”  
Aizawa is shaking slightly, and it alarms Greed a lot.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“He’s… Oboro Shirakumo. All for One… he…”  
His voice breaks, and Greed wraps both arms around him, holding him close.  
“You can tell me another time,” he says gently. Aizawa’s trembling subsides slowly and he nods, moving out of the hug so they’re sitting next to each other again.

“Okay so, the League gets mostly the same treatment as Envy and Gluttony. Takami isn’t in trouble for working with the League as the commission told him to do that.”  
“How’s he doing?”  
“He wasn’t there, he’s still in the hospital, but… His wings will probably not grow back.”

Greed is silent. That’s awful. To lose your quirk the same day you lose the man you love. Envy let it slip that Takami and Dabi had been dating.

“So what about Takami killing Endeavor?” There’s no doubt in Greed’s mind that he did it after Endeavor burned Dabi to death.  
“Best Jeanist said he didn’t do it. He said he witnessed Dabi and Endeavor kill each other. Nobody seemed to want to try and prove him wrong, so Takami isn’t gonna be punished for something he officially didn’t do.”

So Best Jeanist has a soft spot for the kid, huh? Greed is kind of glad.

“Also, nobody knows who killed the commission president. I didn’t see anything. Apparently nobody really did.”

“Yeah, me neither. What about Mic?” Greed knows they’re not in a critical state anymore, they’ll survive, thanks to Greed’s quick thinking of putting pressure on the wound and bandaging it roughly, but he didn’t hear any news about them in a bit.  
“They’re also still in the hospital, and they will get a light sentence too. They also found out who stabbed them, apparently it was a commission staff member, using a levitation quirk on the knife.”  
“Are they being punished?”  
“Just as lightly as the League, otherwise most people would probably be upset.”

Greed curses quietly, but that makes sense. It’d be really hypocritical any other way.

“Okay, so… Lighter punishments over all, rehabilitating instead of just punishing, more dangerous-quirk friendly society. It… Sounds good overall, doesn’t it?”

But Aizawa still seems troubled. Greed is growing impatient.

“Please just tell me what else you have to tell me.”  
“They wanted to lock Shigaraki up, the only League member to get prison time. But Natsuo Todoroki had a pretty moving and convincing speech in his defense prepared, and they heard him out, probably because his father just died.”

Aizawa rubs his face.

“He did convince me and the other people present that Shigaraki was just as manipulated by All for One as your siblings were by your Father, and that he is still young and deserves a second chance because in the end he only wanted for society to change, and accept the outsiders and support them.”  
He takes a deep breath.  
“They asked me to… take custody of him. A professional determined him unfit to live on his own right now.”

Greed blinks, staring at Aizawa.  
“Wait, what?”  
“I can cancel his quirk. So even though he has to wear gloves all the time, I could ensure that he doesn’t use his quirk for more evil.”  
“And he’s willing to do that?”  
“Surprisingly. I think Todoroki spoke with him about it and told him to be more tolerable so they accept his plea for a lighter sentence.”

Greed is conflicted.

On the one hand, he knows that Shigaraki almost killed a bunch of Aizawa’s students, and that Aizawa got seriously hurt during that fight. Also, the League did kidnap Katsuki and gave him some serious PTSD.

On the other hand, he understands what manipulation by your parental figure can do to you, can make you do. And Shigaraki is part of Envy’s new family. They both lost Dabi, but they could still have each other. It could really benefit Envy to have a familiar face here, someone he actually likes and cares about, someone he can lean on.  
And the kids are with Midnight anyways. They’ll stay with her for at least a month, so they’d have time to figure out if they can trust Shigaraki around them or not.

“I’d be fine with it,” Greed decides. “I also think Shigaraki deserves a second chance.”  
Aizawa looks at him, not seeming surprised at all.  
“Of course you’d be willing to take in another child in need of a safe home.”  
“Only if you’re okay with it though. I know you have a worse history with him than me. So if you’re not comfortable doing that… We don’t have to.”  
“I told Best Jeanist I’d talk to you about it and think about it. I’ll have an answer tomorrow.”

Greed nods and smiles a bit at Aizawa.

“Okay. Was that all the news?”  
“All the ones you’re interested in.”  
“Good. Then please tell Envy to come to dinner. He’ll just throw something at me again if I try.”  
“Alright. And don’t worry. Just give him time.”  
“I know…”

\---- ------

Living with Envy and Shigaraki is… Exhausting. It is obvious that Shigaraki is trying to be better, but he’s still an obnoxious brat at times. It’s just Greed’s curse to only pick the annoying kids to look out for.

But, just like predicted, the two help each other heal a bit from their loss, and Envy is a tiny bit more tolerable. He still hates Greed and isn’t opposed to showing it, but he’s less aggressive and violent with his emotions.  
And he seems to quite like Aizawa and listens to him when he tells him to come eat lunch or dinner. It’s really ironic.

But, because they now have to make sure two people eat their regular meals and stay healthy and get good sleep, it’s starting to rub off on Aizawa, who eats slightly larger portions every day, and only occasionally complains about eating, and only in private with Greed.

They sleep in separate rooms, Envy and Shigaraki are sharing Ling and Denki’s, Aizawa is living in Katsuki’s, and Greed in his own one.  
He doesn’t really mind it, Aizawa simply isn’t ready to share a room or bed with him yet. Greed will wait for him, and if Aizawa never wants to do that, that’s fine too.

However, after one month of the weird family dynamic of two men who sometimes have issues expressing their feelings properly, and two former criminals, a problem arises.

The kids will come back soon. Both Greed and Aizawa have deemed Envy and Shigaraki safe enough to let them be around the kids. They did have a whole month to murder them in their sleep after all, so they both doubt that they’d hurt the kids somehow.

But, there is a space problem. Together Aizawa and Greed have acquired a total of five teens and one child, not counting the two former villains, and Greed’s apartment is definitely not big enough for that. Neither is Aizawa’s. And… Greed for one doesn’t want to live apart again. He liked this arrangement. And he doesn’t want to split Envy and Shigaraki up again.

So one evening after Shigaraki and Envy are in their room, hopefully asleep already, Greed and Aizawa sit down in the kitchen with two cups of tea and a lot of things to discuss.  
“So… I liked living together with you, even if the two brats made it a lot less enjoyable at times.” Greed grins a bit.  
“I liked living with you too.”

They look at each other. Greed hesitantly tests the waters.  
“I know I said I didn’t want to be around Eri permanently so I’m no risk to her, but… I think with Shigaraki there too, I’m the lesser risk? Though he really tried, I’m not saying he didn’t, he just… Has a temper.”  
“I would trust you with Eri, Greed,” Aizawa says gently. “I know she’d be perfectly safe with you.”  
“Oh.”  
Greed stares into his teacup, a little overwhelmed by Aizawa’s trust in him.  
“So… We can’t let the kids stay with Midnight forever, we said one month, and I don’t want to burden her with another month of those six troublemakers. But here’s not enough space for everyone… In your apartment neither…”  
“Yes, that’s true.”

So Aizawa is making him ask. Okay, that’s fine. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just… finding a place together, to live there, with each of their kids, the good ones, and the criminal ones.

“Do you want to find a place to live together? Permanently, with the kids?”  
Aizawa smiles softly, and Greed melts.  
“I’d love that.”  
“So… we need quite a lot of bedrooms. If two kids share a room, we still need four just for them. And then each of us needs one too…?”  
Greed chews on his lip. He asked if they will live together. Aizawa can ask the bedroom question.

“Or we share a room? A bed?” Aizawa speaks up after a moment of hesitation.  
“Like a real couple, huh? Are we ready for that?”  
“I think we are. We could try it tonight, couldn’t we? If it works?”  
“In my bed?”  
“Yes.”

Now, Greed feels really nervous all of a sudden, but he grins and nods.  
“Okay, sure. And tomorrow we start looking for an affordable place with five bedrooms. We’ll surely get some money from the old commission funds from our number one hero. After all, we’re letting two former criminals live with us for his rehabilitation program to prove useful.”  
Aizawa chuckles and sips his tea.  
“Possibly.”

They go to bed half an hour later, and it’s not that Greed’s bed is small, but it’s just different to share it with Aizawa instead of one of the kids or sleep in it alone.  
He’s really unsure where the boundaries are, if Aizawa wants him to keep his hands all to himself, or if hugging or cuddling is allowed.  
Finally, the awkward tension gets too much, and Greed sits up, blanket slipping down from his chest. He’s wearing a shirt for Aizawa’s comfort, and long pyjama pants.  
“Please tell me what I can and can’t do or I’ll lose my mind.”  
Aizawa is looking up at him with a pensive expression. Greed reaches out and brushes some hair out of his face.  
“We don’t have to do this,” he then mumbles. “We can have separate beds, separate rooms, I don’t care. I still love you.”

He pauses. They said it in the middle of the fight when they were desperate, but never again since then.

“I love you too. And that’s why I have to tell you something.”

Hearing that makes Greed even more nervous than he already is, but he just nods and keeps running his hand over Aizawa’s hair.  
“I’m listening,” he prompts.  
It takes Aizawa another minute or two before he closes his eyes and speaks.  
“I’m asexual. In case you don’t know what that means, it means I’m not sexually attracted to anyone. And me personally, I don’t want sex. Ever. I hate the thought of it.”  
Before Greed can say anything, he continues.  
“I know you’re a very… sexual person. You make jokes and innuendos, you probably have experience with shady people which you met through your father. Maybe you’re even into some hardcore-”  
“Shouta,” Greed interrupts him, the name tasting sweet on his tongue. “I love you. And if loving you means no sex, then I’m fine with that. Perfectly fine. I promise. Sure, I’ve had sex a few times, and I liked it, but it wasn’t so amazing that I can’t live without it.”  
He lies back down, cups Shouta’s face with his hands and leans their foreheads together.  
“Thanks for telling me.”  
“I didn’t want to lead you on any longer.”  
“You didn’t lead me on. You never hinted on wanting to sleep with me, and you never replied to my jokes. Look at me, please.”  
Shouta’s eyes snap open and Greed smiles a bit as he studies them.  
“I’d give up anything for you,” he then whispers, flushing as he realises how true that statement really is.  
The exception is his kids of course, but he knows that Shouta knows that.  
Finally, Shouta relaxes back into the cushion and wraps his arms around Greed.  
“I do like kissing and cuddling.”  
Greed’s smile widens.  
“Good.”

They snuggle up together and just enjoy each other’s warmth for a while, but for sleeping they shift around until Greed has his arm thrown over Shouta, and their legs are tangled, but they’re not actually lying on each other which would make sleep uncomfortable.

As Greed listens to Shouta’s calm breaths, he manages to fully relax for the first time in a long while, and he falls asleep with a smile on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hated the first version of this chapter so much because it was just so much info dumping, and I didn't know how to fix it until Lee told me how to rewrite it  
> I love them so so so much, without his help I could have not saved this chapter, so everyone say thank you Lee!!
> 
> So yes, I really hope this chapter was alright, and that you got the important info but weren't bored or anything! If there's some confusion about some of the changes Best Jeanist made, feel free to ask (again, it's fanfic, I know this isn't really logical, but I wanted it like this so I did it) 
> 
> PS: FUNFACT: Spinner joined an animal quirk support group led by the husbands Darius and Heinkel 🥰🥰


	54. Chapter 54

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a big (happy?) family and dealing with issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of claustrophobia, implied PTSD, mention of past death & murder, cursing
> 
> chapter tags: they all need therapy, they all get therapy; Katsuki has PTSD; a whole bunch of family fluff & comfort
> 
> one of my favourite chapters because of the different interactions, i hope you like it. ♥

They find a place, a nice house with a garden (they would have been fine with an apartment, but they have a lot of kids, and frankly, Greed thinks they more than deserve a house with a white picket fence), they move in - indeed with financial aid from Best Jeanist - and then it’s kind of stressful for a week because of a bunch of nervous worrying and being extra alert before both Greed and Shouta relax because Shigaraki is tolerable with the kids. They argue like siblings rather than enemies, and he’s kinda sweet with Eri, teaching her video games.

The only one having a hard time getting used to living together with Shigaraki is Katsuki. He’s obviously jumpy and nervous despite trying not to show it, and he hangs out in his and Ling’s room most of the time.

(Greed didn’t want to let Katsuki and Denki share a room as they’re dating, so Ling and Katsuki, and Denki and Neito are roommates instead which works out fine since the two latter apparently bonded during the attack on UA. Apart from them, the remaining three bedrooms are also occupied by two people each, Shinsou and Eri, Shigaraki and Envy, and of course him and Shouta.)

Greed thinks it’s probably best to just give Katsuki time, but then decides against that and asks Ling one evening if he could give them a minute to talk.  
Ling nods with a little smile and walks out the room, closing the door behind himself.  
Greed’s eyes wander through the bedroom which is the largest of the five in the house because of Katsuki’s claustrophobia, but the boy is still sitting on the ground by the open floor to ceiling window, shivering in the cold February air, legs dangling over the edge since they’re on the upper floor.  
With a sad smile, Greed grabs the blanket from Katsuki’s bed and sits next to him, wrapping it around both of them. The boy leans against his side.

“I know it’s hard,” Greed starts, “but I slept in the same apartment as Shigaraki for a month, and he didn’t kill me in my sleep. I think he really wants to change.”  
“But why? He was so set on… I don’t even know what his fucking goal was.”  
“I’m not sure he even knew for sure. Or if it was his own… But I heard him talk to Envy a bunch, and on the phone to his boyfriend. He’s trying. Maybe for them. Maybe so Dabi didn’t die in vain. He’s making up for what he did wrong with community service. I know it doesn’t seem like much, and maybe it isn’t enough, but he was heavily manipulated since he was a child. I could’ve ended up like him too… So I can’t help but… understand him.”  
Katsuki scoots over some more and Greed puts an arm around him. Together they’re looking down into the garden.  
“He didn’t even hurt me that day. Envy didn’t either. But seeing them reminds me of just fucking everything that happened.”  
Greed waits for him to continue.  
“Seeing Deku’s stupid sad and horrified eyes when he couldn’t get to me in time, being tied up, not knowing what’s going to happen, then seeing All Might fight, the police treating me like a villain…”

It hurts Greed to know that Katsuki is still suffering so much because of this, and he wishes he could just make it go away.  
“The only good memory of those few days is when I finally saw you in front of the police station, and you took me home. I finally felt safe again.”

_You’re not going to get sentimental and cry. No, you won’t, stop it._

Greed presses a kiss to Katsuki’s hair and holds him close.  
“Then trust me, okay? I wouldn’t let him live here if I wasn’t sure I can trust him not to hurt you, or that I can protect you.”  
“I do trust you… I just don’t know anymore. I get so nervous when I see him or Envy, and then the room is like it’s fucking shrinking and I just want to run.”  
“You know what I’ve been thinking about?”  
“Hm?”  
“You should go to therapy. The others too, me as well probably. So much shit happened, too much. And I can’t make your trauma go away, as much as I want to, so the only way I can really think of helping you anymore is helping you get professional help.”

Katsuki is tense.  
“But… Therapy is for weak people.”  
“No. Therapy is for anyone who needs it. You’re incredibly strong, Katsuki, I know you are. But sometimes even the strongest people need to accept outside help.”  
The kid seems to think that over, and then slumps against Greed’s side, head leaning on Greed’s shoulder.  
“Fine… I’ll think about it. But I’m not saying yes yet.”  
“That’s okay. Talk to Ling about it, or Denki and Sero, Kirishima, just… get their opinions on it and then decide.”

Nodding, Katsuki pulls the blanket tighter around them. They sit there together in the cold for a while longer, legs dangling, watching the street lights and occasional cars. Eventually, Greed hears that Katsuki’s breathing has evened out, and he gets up and carries him to bed, careful not to wake him.

\----------

Things are finally looking up again, except for the fact that Envy still hates him. But Greed can live with that. It’s okay. One day he’ll maybe forgive him.

A few days before Valentine’s, Shinsou tells Greed to take Shouta out on February 14th.  
“And leave you all home alone? No thanks, I’d like to still have a house at the end of that day.”

The dorms are briefly on halt even though school is taking place again, as most parents prefer their kids safely under their watch right now with so many things changing. And since the main reason for the dorms, the League, is being dealt with, Nedzu didn’t mind cancelling their dorm project for now.

“Trust us a little more,” Shinsou tells him, sounding upset.  
“You’re an explosive mix, kid, you have to admit that.”  
“Yes, I know, but… Dad is really tired, I think something is bothering him. So he needs a date.”

Greed feels kind of shitty as he hears that because he didn’t notice anything being wrong with Shouta.  
“Fine,” he caves. “But I’m writing a list of rules, you stay with Eri the entire time, and if anything happens you’ll call without hesitating.”  
Shinsou huffs.  
“Sure, _dad_.”

The kid used to call him _father_ mockingly to distinguish him better from Shouta who he actually calls dad, but after realising that it made Greed feel incredibly uneasy and kind of sick to his stomach, he’d stopped and now just calls him dad with a very exaggerated voice when making fun of Greed’s mother-henning.

“Go do your homework, brat. You’re on grocery duty with Katsuki and Ling later.”  
Shinsou frowns.  
“That’ll be really exhausting.”  
“Probably.”  
Greed grins, not feeling any sympathy at all, and then leaves the room to find Shouta and ask him out properly on their second attempt at a first real date.

\----------

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, kid.”  
Shigaraki scoffs.  
“Sure, that’s why you’re giving me a threatening talk to not kill anybody, but not Envy.”  
Greed sighs and rubs his face.  
“I’m not threatening you, I just wanted to ask you to behave. And I’m only talking to you because I know Envy. But I barely know you. You… don’t really talk about yourself.”  
“Why should I? I’m just here until the shrink says I’m not too crazy to live on my own anymore.”

Greed shifts on the couch where he’s sitting next to the other, and reaches out. For a while he tried to fight it, didn’t want himself to start liking Shigaraki and caring about him, but it was a lost cause. There’s so many instances in which you can see that he’s almost still a teen at heart because he had to grow up so quickly to fulfil the role in the plan of All for One. Greed knows what it’s like to have your childhood stolen, and despite Shigaraki’s past deeds, he can’t find it in himself to hold a grudge. He wants to help him become a better person.  
“You’re family now, one way or another, if you like it or not. And family trusts each other and opens up. At least this family.”  
Shigaraki studies the hand.  
“Do you want me to shake your hand?”  
Chuckling, Greed shrugs.  
“Why not? Hi, I’m Greed, hopefully one day Greed Aizawa.” He winks.  
The former villain rolls his eyes.  
“You two are disgusting together.”  
Then he takes Greed’s hand, surprising him.  
“I’m Tomu- No. Tenko? Shimura?” He blinks. “I don’t know which name to go by… I don’t like the memories of either.”  
Shigaraki pulls his hand back, and Greed smiles a bit.  
“That’s fine. I can just call you brat.”  
“Fuck off.”  
“It was a joke. But listen.”

Greed leans back on the couch and sighs.  
“My name is one of the seven deadly sins, Father loved irony. I used to be really greedy because of his experiments. So, I should hate my name. There’s so many painful memories connected to it. But… The people who have said my name since then changed it. Don’t mind me getting sappy for a moment, but when the kids say _Greed_ with a voice that tells me they trust me, or Shouta calls me by my name and I can hear how much he loves me in the way he says it… It’s not like the bad memories just go away. They’re like an ugly sidewalk, they’re permanent. But every time someone who cares about me says my name, it’s like a flower is pushing through the pavement and blooming, covering part of the awful grey.”  
He waits for Shigaraki to tell him that that’s a fucking stupid metaphor, but the man is staring at the wall thoughtfully.

“Tomura,” he then says, slowly, pronouncing it carefully, like he’s trying to imitate somebody. “I like how Natsuo says my name.”  
Greed smiles.  
“Tomura,” Greed replies in his kindest dad voice he usually reserves for Eri, “You can reclaim that name for yourself. And you don’t have to add the last name either. I only have a first name and I’m pretty cool.”

Tomura snorts.  
“You’re not cool at all.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“You’re not cool. At all.”

Greed presses a hand to his chest.  
“Ouch.”  
That makes the former villain boss almost laugh. For Greed, that’s a win. This whole conversation is a win, actually. The young man opened up to him, at least a little. They talked in a civil way.

He gets up and smirks down at him.  
“You’re the oldest, so make sure the kids behave, okay?”  
Something shines in Tomura’s eyes.  
“I’m in charge? So I can order them around?”  
“Within reason, yes. Don’t provoke them unnecessarily.”  
“I wouldn’t do that. I’ll just make Shinsou go to bed an hour earlier than everyone else.”

Greed snorts.  
“Leave the poor kid alone. Alright, I have to get ready for my date. Let’s chat again another time.”

\----------

They go to the cat café again, and this time they walk together, holding hands. Greed feels giddy with excitement because finally they’re having that date. It’s being dampened by Shouta’s somber mood however.  
When they reach the café, they get coffee and then find a table. For a while, Greed watches Shouta play with a white cat, then he sighs.  
“Okay, tell me what’s going on. And don’t say it’s nothing, Shinsou noticed it too.”  
“It’s about Mic…”

Greed frowns and picks up a grey tabby cat.  
“Are they still in the hospital?”  
“Not anymore, but… They…”  
With practiced patience, Greed waits.  
“They won’t get their voice back. Their vocal cords got injured from the stab. Shit, they’re lucky to even be alive, it was so close…”  
Greed had been too busy worrying about Envy to really think about Mic much, and Shouta had never brought them up, so this is news to him.  
It makes sense, of course. Nobody gets stabbed in the neck and recovers from it easily - or perfectly.

“I’m sorry,” Greed mumbles, unsure what else to say.  
“Their voice is… their quirk. And now… They’re not doing well…”  
Shouta shakes his head.  
“I shouldn’t talk about this on our date.”  
“But I want you to talk to me about stuff like that! There’s so much we should talk about, and none of it is fun.”

Greed gently puts the cat from his lap back on the floor and shifts his chair closer to Shouta’s so he can take his hand. Shouta holds on tightly.  
“I’m worried about them.”  
“They’re home alone at the moment I guess?”  
“Yes.”  
“Well, I have an idea. I’ll learn sign language. I’ll make the kids learn sign language. And then we invite Mic over for dinner and show them that they don’t need their voice to be like… included or whatever.”  
With a smile, Shouta leans his head against Greed’s shoulder.  
“So you forgive them?”  
“Yeah. I think I forgave them the moment I heard the kid’s story about how he was raised on the radio. Mic had the right goal, even if they didn’t quite use the right way to get there. But Katsuki decided to see a therapist, and he told me that he’s not mad at Mic for betraying them anymore. He’s grown so much…”

The hand that’s not holding Shouta’s hand moves to the man's hair, and he gently runs his fingers through it. He smells like lemon. New shampoo probably.

“What else do we have to talk about?”  
“Hm?”  
“You said there’s a lot of things we have to talk about.” Shouta runs his thumb over Greed’s hand.

Greed sighs.  
“Right… I need to tell you…” He takes a deep breath and then gently pushes Shouta back a bit so they’re looking at each other.  
“Remember when Katsuki was kidnapped and I went looking for him using my father’s contacts?”  
Shouta nods, watching him with intense eyes.  
“I… I hurt people. I killed people. Before that too. I’m a bad person, so every time someone calls me good, I feel like I tricked them into liking me. I should’ve told you sooner, I was just too selfish and scared to lose you… But I understand if you want to leave, or if you want me to leave.”  
“Tell me about it.” Shouta’s voice is calm.  
“What?”  
“Tell me about the people you hurt and killed. Who they were, what you did.”

For a few moments, Greed can only stare at Shouta, then he starts talking, forcing himself not to look away from the other’s scrutinising eyes.

\----------

“You only killed criminals, villains or people who threatened you or your family,” Shouta says when Greed is done speaking and just stares at the wall, unable to look at the other any longer.  
“I still took lives like they were nothing.”

“Greed.”

Greed remembers what he said to Tomura about how the way certain people say your name can make the painful memories retreat to the shadows. And the way Shouta says it, soft and careful, like it’s something precious, like he likes the feeling of the movement of his tongue and lips when forming it… It’s embarrassing how just the way Shouta says his name is making him want to weep from happiness and ask how he deserves something so beautiful.

Shouta doesn’t stop with his name though, no. With his warm hands he gently cups Greed’s face and turns it so he’s looking at him.

“Yes. You killed people. But you didn’t kill All Might. I saw that you wanted to do it, but you held yourself back. You’ve changed so much since I first met you. You maybe weren’t a good person back then, but you are now. You’re a good person, Greed. _You are a good person._ ”

Closing his eyes to hide that he’s tearing up, Greed focuses on breathing for a bit, on the feeling of Shouta’s hands holding his face.  
He sounds so sincere… Shouta really believes what he’s saying.  
The thing is, Greed wouldn’t call himself a bad person, not really. He did horrible things, yes, but Shouta is right, he changed since then. But a good person? He never thought he’d actually become someone who can be considered good, he always brushed it off when somebody called him that, not believing that they really meant it.  
It’s just something you say, isn’t it? _Thanks, you’re a good person._

But when Shouta says it, Greed’s heart feels like it’s being squeezed painfully tight, and he can barely get any air into his lungs, the sincerity in his voice stealing his breath.

“You’re a good person,” Shouta says again and moves his hands from Greed’s face to his hands, holding them tightly. He opens his eyes and looks at Shouta, blinking a few times.  
“Thank you,” he manages, trying to force his emotions back down. How can one person make him feel so vulnerable, and so… okay about being vulnerable?

“Thank you,” he repeats and squeezes Shouta’s hands.

_Thank you for making me feel human._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last part is probably my favourite scene I've written in this whole fic. Yes, it's cheesy maybe, but I think they deserve to be cheesy, and ridiculously in love. (did I tear up while beta reading that part? yes i did.)
> 
> PS: I tried to do research on the consequences of being stabbed in the throat, but as you can imagine, there's not a lot of good resources to read up on that, so i guess you'll have to give me the benefit of the doubt/suspend the disbelief, however you wanna call it, and just... Accept that it works like this in this fanfic


	55. Chapter 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A family shopping trip, an apology and a silent dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: light description of vomit/vomiting, migraine, neglecting one's health (ignoring a migraine), mention of past injury & past death, hint on PTSD, mention of therapy, cursing
> 
> chapter tags: family shopping trip, fluff, Greed being a great dad for all his kids, a long overdue apology, Envy needs a hug
> 
> a chapter to tie up some loose ends and give you some scenes you wanted and some you didn't know you needed  
> Time wise we're in late April/early May
> 
> 3 different POVs, all marked

**Greed**

Greed is braiding Eri’s hair on the couch while Denki, Hitoshi and Tomura are playing a racing game on the TV, sitting on the floor.  
He can hear Ling and Katsuki argue in their room, Neito is lying on the carpet by the couch, headphones in, Cloud sleeping on his chest.  
Envy is nowhere to be seen, so he’s probably in his and Tomura’s room. He barely leaves it, unless he has to for therapy or work or meals.

“Ouch,” Eri mumbles and Greed focuses back on her.  
“I’m sorry, darling, did I tug too hard?”  
She nods and Greed makes sure to not do that again.

“Fuck!” Denki yells and Greed blinks.  
“Denki, you’re in the living room. With Eri.”  
They look at him with wide eyes and then smile sheepishly at Eri.  
“Sorry, don’t say that word, it’s a bad one.”

Eri shrugs.  
“Okay.”  
“You’re my beautiful angel,” Greed tells her with a smile and kisses her on the top of her head.  
She giggles and tugs on her braid.  
“Is it done?”  
“It is. Go on, look at yourself in the hall mirror.”

The girl jumps off the couch, hops over Neito’s legs and leaves the living room. Greed watches the screen, the sound of buttons being smashed filling the room.

“I will murder you,” Tomura growls suddenly and moves towards Hitoshi who’s laughing and kicking at Tomura, never taking his eyes off of the screen.  
“What’s happening?” Greed turns to Denki who chuckles, eyes fixed on the game too.  
“Tomura was in first place, but Hitoshi hit him with two green shells and now Tomura is in seventh place and Hitoshi is winning. It’s the last round, so he can’t really catch up anymore.”

Tomura is still trying to get the controller from Hitoshi who’s laughing and holding his hands higher, pressing buttons, shoving at Tomura with his feet.  
“No way are you ruining my win, crusty boy. Almost… almost - Yes! Suck it, all of you!”  
“Third place, hah,” Denki cheers and grins at Tomura who apparently had stopped playing completely after that attack by Hitoshi.  
“I hate both of you. Without these gloves I’d have dusted you both by now.”

Some weeks ago Greed would have been alarmed by those words, but not anymore. They’ve lived together for about three months now in the new home, so he knows Tomura doesn’t really mean it - not anymore.

Eri returns with Shouta, beaming.  
“Daddy said I look really pretty.”  
“You do, princess.” Greed smiles at her.

Shouta sits next to him and Eri hops on his lap. He wraps his arms around her.  
“So, what are the plans for the rest of the day?”

Denki starts a new game. “Video games?”  
“You’ve been playing for an hour.” Shouta raises an eyebrow.  
“So?”  
Greed huffs.  
“You can keep playing if you really want to, but I think I will go shopping.”  
“Shopping is boring,” Eri complains. “And there’s so many people.”  
“Hmm, I think I’ll come along. What do you need?” Denki looks at him.  
“I’ve been meaning to get new shoes since my dear sister stole hers back and then ruined them during the fight. But you don’t have to come, Eri. I’m sure Envy won’t go with us either, so you can stay with him.”

Shouta brushes some of his hair out of his face.  
“I’ll stay too, I still have some papers to grade.”  
“I’ll go,” Hitoshi decides. “I wanna buy that shirt Denki never lets me borrow.”  
“It’s my favourite!”  
“I like it too, and it looks better on me.”  
“It doesn’t.”  
“It does.”  
“Kids,” Greed interrupts and they stop. “So, Denki and Hitoshi are coming with me. Eri, do you wanna go ask Ling and Katsuki for me? And Envy too?”  
She nods, smiling, and hops off of Shouta’s lap, dancing out of the room.

Greed looks after her, chest warm. He loves that girl so much.

“What about you?” He nudges Tomura with his foot. He doesn’t look away from the game and doesn’t answer immediately.  
“Are we going to a mall?” he finally asks.  
“Yes.”  
Tomura stays silent.

“Oh,” Denki realises. “Awkward…”

Greed blinks, confused. He’s missing something.

“Tomura kind of… talked to Midoriya in that mall nearby a while back. Like… A threatening talk.”  
Greed shrugs.  
“So?”  
That makes Tomura turn to him with wide eyes.  
“You changed,” Greed continues, as if it should be obvious - which it should be, really. “So you did something bad there once. I did something bad in a lot of places, and sure, it would be weird to go back there, but I know I changed too, so the past doesn’t matter anymore.”

Carefully, Greed leans forward to where the three are sitting on the carpet, and reaches out to tuck a strand of hair behind Tomura’s ear. With the products his boyfriend keeps bringing him, his face looks a lot healthier by now- the regular meals and sleep help too, probably.

“If you aren’t comfortable going, that’s fine. But I’d like you to come along, help me pick out shoes, maybe some clothes. I need new skinny jeans.”  
“Leg prisons,” Tomura mumbles, then nods. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

\----------

Half an hour later, Tomura, Hitoshi, Denki, Katsuki, Ling and Neito are ready to go. Greed is, too.  
They take the bus, even though it’s not too far, but none of them really feels like walking.

Greed sits with Tomura, who seems on edge. He goes out regularly, but only for his work and therapy. They need to take him out in their free time more, get him used to normal life.

At the mall, Ed and Sero are waiting for them, apparently Ling and Denki or Katsuki texted them.  
Denki kisses Sero, then links arms with Hitoshi.  
“Come on, I’ll show you where I got the shirt.”  
“I need a birthday gift for my mum, will you help me?” Sero asks Katsuki who shrugs and allows him to take his hand and hold it.

“Okay, since we’re splitting up, how about we meet back here at the entrance in one hour and see if anyone needs more time?”  
The kids all agree in one way or another, and then most of them leave.  
Ling seems unsure what to do for a moment, but then Ed tells him that there’s this new bookstore on the second floor with a big manga collection, and the two are off.

Greed looks at Tomura and Neito.  
“So, you two are sticking with me?”  
Neito has his headphones in again - or still - but still nods.  
“Alright. Shoes first.”

He leads the way, relaxing. This will be a nice afternoon, he can feel it.

\----------

He finds some good shoes that aren’t too expensive in the second shoe shop they enter. Tomura looks bored but fine apart from that, but Neito is worrying Greed. He hasn’t taken out his headphones, and he looks pale, as well as a little green around the nose.

So, after paying for his shoes, Greed puts a hand on Neito’s arm who startles.  
“Are you okay?” he asks. Tomura watches them from the side.  
Neito nods and then winces at the movement. Greed frowns.  
“You’re not. Come on, let's sit down. Maybe shut off your music.”  
He reaches for the headphones, but Neito bats his hand away and takes a step back, closing his eyes, face scrunching up.

Worry squeezes Greed’s chest so tightly he is breathing a little harder.  
“Neito,” he says softly and offers him his hands.The boy takes them and holds them in an almost painful grip.  
“Greed,” he manages slowly, “I don’t feel so good.”  
“Okay, I got you, don’t worry. Do you want to sit down? Get fresh air?”  
“Air.”

Greed nods and gently tugs on Neito’s hands, pulling him towards the exit, walking backwards and keeping eye contact with him. Tomura trails along silently, a frown on his face.

“Almost there,” Greed says gently, glad to know Neito’s music is soft enough for him to still hear and understand him.

Someone rushes past them, bumping into Neito, making him stumble. That seems to be the last straw, and Neito presses a hand to his mouth. Greed knows what’s up immediately and rushes the last metres to the door, dragging him along.  
Outside, Neito stops in front of the trash can by the doors and throws up in them. Greed stays close to him, one hand on his back, one holding him by the shoulder.

“Okay, it’s okay, there you go,” he says in his gentlest voice, rubbing his back. “Tomura, can you run inside and buy a bottle of water quickly?”  
The boy nods and takes the money Greed hands him, briefly dropping his hold on Neito.

Then Greed focuses back on the kid who’s dry heaving by now.

“Try to take some deep breaths, okay? The trash can smells bad, so I’ll move you over to the bench now, got it?”  
Neito nods, so Greed leads him to the side. His dry heaving stops, and they sit down together. Greed wraps an arm around Neito, holding him close. The kid presses his face against his shoulder, no doubt wiping vomit on him, but that’s okay. Greed doesn’t care, as long as Neito feels better now.

Tomura returns a minute later and hands him a water bottle. Neito rinses out his mouth and then drinks a few sips.

“Ready to tell me what’s going on?” Greed asks, holding Neito close again.  
The kid hides his face in his hands and mumbles something.  
“I didn’t understand you.”

“Migraine,” he repeats, louder this time.  
“You get migraines? Since when?”

Again, it takes him a moment to reply.

“Copying your father’s quirk.”

Greed sighs deeply and holds him a little tighter.  
“You should’ve told me, idiot. We can get you medication so it’s a little better. And you don’t go to shopping malls with a migraine.”  
“I didn’t want to be left out.”  
With another sigh, Greed presses a kiss to Neito’s head.  
“I know, kid. But we all could’ve stayed home and gone another time. Is that why you have headphones in?”  
“Too much noise makes it worse.”

“You’re so stupid,” Tomura mumbles, but he sits on Neito’s other side, close but not touching.

“We’ll wait for the others to come back and then we’ll walk home. I’ll carry you if you want, but I think fresh air is better than taking the bus again.”  
Neito nods.  
“I can walk. I think.”  
“Okay.”

They wait in silence, and when the others finally show up, Neito’s eyes are closed, but he looks a little green again.

Greed explains the situation with a few brief words, and Katsuki says he’ll go home with them because he’s had enough of the public for a while again. Ed and Ling decide to stay, the rest is on board with going home - Sero invites himself, which Greed doesn’t mind.

He gets up and Hitoshi helps Neito on Greed’s back so he can carry him.  
“What if I throw up again?” Neito mumbles, head resting on Greed’s shoulder.  
“Then I’ll wash my clothes and take a shower. It won’t be the end of the world. I have a strong stomach.”  
“Love you,” Neito mumbles, and Greed smiles, holding on to his legs as he’s walking.  
“Love you too, kid. You can tell me stuff like this, okay? I’ll always try to help.”

\----------

Neito is in bed, teeth brushed, face washed and pyjamas on, Greed also changed and is now in the kitchen, scrolling through the internet on his phone looking for stuff that helps against migraines. Lots of mention of making sure you’re eating the right things and avoiding certain foods, then some yoga, acupuncture and essential oils.  
Finally he finds one tip he can use right now.

With a cup of ginger tea in his one hand, and ice cubes wrapped in a towel in the other, Greed makes his way to Neito’s room and smiles at him.  
“Hey. You look a little better.”  
“I feel a little better too.”  
Greed puts down the cup on the bedside table and sits on the edge of the bed, running his hand over Neito’s hair.  
“It’s supposed to help with the nausea. And this is for your head.”  
He carefully presses the towel to his forehead and Neito closes his eyes.

“Thanks,” he whispers.  
“Kid, I’ve decided a while back that I’ll be your dad. That means I’ll be there for you even in the annoying or gross sick times. Especially during those.”  
“Hmm,” Neito makes.

Greed checks the time on his phone so he won’t miss the fifteen minutes after which he’s supposed to take the cold pack away from Neito for another fifteen minutes.  
“Denki is sleeping in Katsuki’s bed tonight so you have peace and quiet. Or I’ll stay here with you if you need me too.”  
“Okay,” the kid whispers.

With a little smile, Greed gets more comfortable on the bed, determined to stay as long as he’s needed.  
He thinks he’s slowly getting the hang of this dad thing.

**Katsuki**

In late summer, Katsuki is sitting in his and Ling’s room on the carpet, writing some notes about his day in the notebook his therapist gave him for this exact purpose. She’s surprisingly okay, so he doesn’t mind doing this too much, or going there. It’s kind of helping…

He’s startled from his thoughts when there’s a knock on the door. Barely anyone in this family knocks, so it has to be Greed or Aizawa.

“What?” he calls and the door opens, revealing white hair. He stiffens and slams his notebook closed. “What do you want?”  
Shigaraki- no, Tomura now, steps into the room, his Nintendo Switch in his glove-covered hands.  
“Denki told me you wanted to play Animal Crossing for a while now but you can’t afford a Switch or the game and don’t want to ask Greed for it.”  
Katsuki narrows his eyes.  
“So you’re here to make fun of me? Where did you get yours? I doubt you bought it.”

The former villain grins.  
“I stole it. Obviously.”  
“Greed doesn’t like stealing.”  
“I stole it before… everything. Greed probably knows but lets it slide because it’s been a while, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively, Katsuki watches him. Tomura didn’t fully close the door behind himself and he’s staying close to it. Katsuki appreciates it, he would be very uncomfortable with no quick exit available besides the window.

“So what do you want?”

Tomura holds out his gaming console.

“You can play with mine until you can afford your own.”

Katsuki blinks, taken aback.  
“What? You’re giving me your-”  
“Lending it to you,” Tomura interrupts. “It’s still mine, you can just play with it a bit if you want. After all, Denki, Hitoshi and Ling use my Xbox and Switch all the time too.”  
“Why?”

Still holding out the console, Tomura walks closer. Katsuki stays where he is on the carpet, holding his breath. Is this some sort of trap?

“Consider it an apology for kidnapping you.”  
He stops in front of him and Katsuki slowly un-crosses his arms and grabs the Switch. Tomura smirks again.  
“If you make any of my villagers move away, I’ll have Hitoshi mind-control you into singing naked on the street.”

Katsuki frowns in disgust and then nods once, breathing again. Okay. An apology. It kind of makes sense, and… it’s… nice that he’s apologising.

“Thanks,” he adds after a moment of hesitation, but Tomura is already at the door again and waves it off.  
“Catch some fish, I need the money.”

Then he’s gone, and Katsuki stares at the console. He really has been meaning to play that game because it looks easy and relaxing and cute. Like something you can play after an exhausting, stressful day to calm down.  
He starts the game, and a little smile pulls at his lips.  
He’ll have to thank Denki later too.

**Ling**

“Can someone go get Envy? Dinner is almost ready,” Greed calls from the kitchen. Eri jumps up from the couch already, but Ling takes her arm.  
“Don’t worry about it, I talked to him earlier.”

The girl rubs her nose and shrugs, then she runs into the kitchen to help set the table.  
Ling follows her, slower, and leans in the doorway, watching Greed and Aizawa for a moment.  
They’re moving around each other perfectly in front of the stove, like they’re following a script. They share the occasional smiles and touches, and Ling can’t help but be happy for them. You can see how well they work together even by just briefly watching them.

“Greed?” he finally speaks up, and the man turns to him with a questioning expression.  
“Yes?”  
“Envy isn’t having a good day, we’ll eat in his room together.”  
Greed’s eyebrows draw together in concern, but then he just nods and grabs two of the bowls from where Eri put them on the table and fills them with rice, vegetables and chicken and then hands them both to Ling.

“If it’s bad, I want you to tell me.”

Ling knows he doesn’t mean the food. He means if Envy is doing bad.  
Grabbing two sets of chopsticks with his left pinky, Ling smiles a bit.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him. He’ll be okay.”

\--

Envy is lying in bed, curled up, facing the wall. He found a selfie of him and Dabi on his phone earlier today and it made him cry. He told Ling to leave him alone, but Ling hopes that by now he’s ready to eat and maybe talk (though he never talks about the things bothering him).

He doesn’t remember when exactly it started, but one day he’d apologised to Envy again for almost getting him killed, but Envy had insisted it’s fine and they had sat together in comfortable silence for a while. After that, Ling started checking up on him regularly, trying to get him to hang out with the rest of the family. Since Envy doesn’t ever want to do that, the two of them hang out in Envy and Tomura’s room a bunch. Sometimes Eri joins them, or Tomura, and they play video or board games together. Ling really hopes that Envy will someday come out of this room - or at least talk about the things that are on his mind.

“Envy? Greed and Aizawa made Teriyaki Chicken. You haven't eaten since breakfast, you must be hungry.”

He doesn’t get an answer besides grumbling. Ling sighs and puts the bowls down on the desk. Then he walks over to Envy and sits on the edge of the bed.

The other is trembling slightly, and Ling swallows past the lump in his throat. He can’t imagine what he’d feel like if he lost someone this close to him…

“Do you need a hug?” he asks gently, putting a hand on Envy’s back. There’s no reaction for a while, and just when Ling wants to get up and start eating, Envy sits up, wiping his face.

He nods, so Ling moves further onto the bed and wraps his arms around Envy. The other clings to him, pressing his face against his shoulder.

“If you ever want to talk, I’m here,” Ling mumbles. As predicted, Envy doesn’t say anything. When his tears have stopped, Ling grabs the bowls and they sit by the window in comfortable silence, eating.

They don’t need to talk if Envy doesn’t want to. Maybe he wouldn’t even be the right person to listen to him. The one person he should really talk to is Greed after all… They need to get over their differences.

Ling sighs, chewing on some chicken. This whole Greed and Envy situation is way too complicated…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I just writing Greed like the father I would've wanted growing up? Yes, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I want a dad like Greed
> 
> Also, the kids bonding with Tomura over video games, just, yes please
> 
> I hope you liked this! A while back someone commented that Greed should braid Eri's hair, and someone else said Greed should get new shoes, and I also needed to show the long-term consequences of Neito copying Father's quirks, so I added this chapter to throw that all in  
> Also, on the last chapter AngelOfDarkus commented they'd like the kids to interact and while there was already a brief scene about that in here I added the last two POVs to add some more  
> It was convenient coz I had been meaning to show Ling and Envy's friendship but didn't quite know how, and we didn't have a Tomura & Katsuki interaction so far and I think that's intersting too
> 
> I really liked writing this actually, so I'm glad I did it! Hope you like it too
> 
> PS: shoutout to Lee because I love them with all my heart, no particular reason today, I just wanna say it


	56. Shouto's Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of past death, implied past child abuse, cursing
> 
> chapter tags: Uncle Jean, cameo of a Banana Fish character and a Death Note character (no spoilers, don't worry!), Christmas Party, found family fluff, Shouto makes a new friend
> 
> Natsuo never tells anybody about who Dabi was. He doesn't want his siblings and mother to feel the pain he's feeling
> 
> REMINDER: Ink is a vigilante who worked with Team Mustang a few times, they go by they/them pronouns and they are dating Kain Fuery, they are also pretty good friends with Jean and Riza. Maddie aka Meds is also a vigilante and works with Ink, she goes by she/her and is dating Kira (yes, that is a Death Note reference)
> 
> Happy holidays everybody, enjoy this second to last chapter! The last one will be uploaded tomorrow! 💕✨

After the death of his father, Shouto and his siblings are feeling kind of weird. They’re sad, but not too sad. Shouto feels kind of relieved and awful for it until he tells Natsuo and Natsuo says he feels the same.

Then, a few things happen. There’s a funeral, of course, but then Fuyumi and Natsuo start trying to get their mother out of the mental hospital since she’s doing a lot better, and there’s no Enji anymore who can tell her she needs to stay in there.  
She gets released two months later after plenty of evaluation if she’s fit to leave. But neither of them likes living in their old house anymore, so Natsuo moves out first, then their mother starts talking about moving away to Europe or America. Fuyumi tells her they can’t do that because Shouto needs them, but Shouto… He is glad their mother is doing better, but he’s still kind of uncomfortable around her, especially in their house. So, he tells them to move away and not worry about him. He’ll stay with Natsuo.

Fuyumi and their mother pick France and start the emigration process. Shouto tells Natsuo to pretend he’ll let Shouto live with him when they’re gone, but in reality Shouto doesn’t know yet what he’ll do. He doesn’t want to burden his brother.  
So, one evening he texts Jean if they need an intern again because he wants to make some extra money on the side and get his own place. He doesn’t want to use his father’s money for that.  
Of course Jean then calls him to ask what he needs the money for as it’s common knowledge that Endeavor had plenty of savings.  
And when Shouto caves and tells him everything, his mom and sister moving away, his brother living alone and going to college, Jean tells him that he’ll call him back because he has an idea.

That was about three months ago. Now Shouto is sitting on a grey couch, holding a Flame Alchemist mug with tea and listens to Roy and Riza bicker in the adjacent kitchen while cooking, some Christmas episode of a TV show he doesn’t watch playing on the TV in the background.  
Jean had told them about his situation and they insisted he come live with them until he has enough money to find his own place - and is old enough for it. And Shouto… He likes it. He didn’t know they’re dating, but it makes sense in hindsight. And they’re really good together, and nice to him. He feels more at home here after three months than he ever felt at the house he grew up in.

“Will Jean and Kain be here for New Year’s?” Shouto asks after taking a sip from his tea.  
“Jean said he might come if he doesn’t have a date, Kain has a date,” Riza says with a smile. It’s kind of weird how easily they use first names in private settings, but the second they’re at work it’s hero names and last names only. Shouto isn’t sure if he could casually call Izuku by his last name anymore.  
“But Izuku is definitely coming over, right?”  
“Yes, he said his mom is visiting family anyways, so he’ll come here and sleep over if that’s okay.”  
Roy looks in his general direction, then a smirk appears on his lips that has Shouto blushing furiously. Riza hits her boyfriend on the arm.  
“Leave the boy alone, pervert. They’re seventeen.”  
“I had sex at that age already.”  
She hits him again and he takes a few steps back.  
“Stop that!”  
“You’re an idiot,” Riza says, voice fond.

As Shouto watches them, trying to push the embarrassment at Roy’s implications aside, he wonders if he’ll have a life like this in the future too. Being a pro-hero, but having a warm and happy home with the person he loves. He hopes so. Maybe even with Izuku, if they don’t break up before that.

“Shouto, set the table please, we’re almost done,” Riza calls over and he nods and gets up, putting the mug on the coffee table.  
“You’re sure you don’t want to visit your mother and sister?” she asks as he’s placing plates on the table.  
“I’m sure.” His hand brushes his scar briefly, then he grabs chopsticks to put them next to the plates.  
They sit down to eat then, and Shouto can feel both Roy and Riza watch him (He knows that Roy can't see him, but sometimes it still feels like it when he keeps glancing in his direction with a concentrated face, listening for what Shouto is doing). He waits for them to say something, and when they don’t, he looks up at them.

“Do I have something on my face?”  
“No, I’m sorry. We were just wondering how you’re doing. You don’t really talk to us much,” Riza says smiling.  
“I’m fine.”  
“Okay, that’s good, but if you ever need to talk about something, we’re here, okay?”  
“Alright.”

Not satisfied with his brief answers, but always respecting him too much to push, Riza goes back to eating. Neither of them presses the issue anymore, and after dinner Shouto is saved by his phone ringing. He frowns when he sees that it’s Jean, and picks up.

“Hello?”

“Shouto! You have to help me.”

He doesn’t sound like he’s in danger, instead he sounds excited. Shouto’s frown deepens.

“What do I have to help you with?”

“Finding a gift for my new girlfriend. I’m picking you up in half an hour.”

Shouto looks at the clock. It’s almost seven already. The shops will be open a while longer, but it’s still a little sudden.  
But something in Jean’s voice is making him agree, and once he has hung up, he looks at Roy on the couch.  
“I’m going shopping with Jean in half an hour.”  
“Alright, don’t be back too late.”

\-------

Shouto waits for Jean on the sidewalk by the building, wrapped in a coat, scarf and beanie. It’s snowing, and the atmosphere is calm. It’s nice, peaceful.

“Hey, kid!”

He turns towards the voice and sees Jean wheeling towards him, having some trouble with the new snow. Feeling awkward because he doesn’t want Jean to think that Shouto is trying to patronise him, he rubs his neck before asking:  
“Do you want me to push you?”  
“Oh yes, then I can talk better.”

A slightly amused expression forms on his face and Shouto steps behind Jean, pushing his wheelchair in the direction of the mall.  
Jean starts talking and uses his hands very enthusiastically, so it makes sense why he said he can talk better if Shouto helps.  
He tells him all about his girlfriend, Rebecca, who is apparently really smart and strong and fun.  
Shouto is just confused, really. Because he’d thought Jean is jealous of Roy or Riza. He got that feeling when interning with them, he just couldn’t figure out which one it was.  
But apparently he’s wrong? But then why is he feeling so sad? He definitely didn’t feel that when waiting on the sidewalk. These aren’t his own emotions.

So, when they reach the mall and Jean tells him to get him to the jewellery store, Shouto wheels him to a bench instead and sits on it, looking at Jean who seems confused.  
“What are you doing? Tired already?”  
“Why are you sad?”  
Jean blinks and then Shouto feels really happy. He fights back the smile, trying to keep in mind that these aren’t his own emotions, he’s being manipulated.  
“Don’t use your quirk on me to hide it.”  
“I’m sorry, Shouto.” Jean pouts but then drops his quirk, and Shouto feels that sadness radiating from the other again.  
“There is no girlfriend,” Shouto realises, and Jean avoids his eyes. “I was right. You’re jealous of Roy or Riza.”

Jean huffs and rubs his face.  
“And, or, both, neither… What even is jealousy?”  
Not understanding, Shouto just stares at him.  
“I’m jealous of both of them. I like them both,” Jean explains and taps the right wheel with his left index finger.  
“Oh.”

Shouto is not sure what else to say or do. Jean doesn’t seem to mind.  
“I’m lonely around Christmas. Breda and Falman have their families, Kain is with his significant annoyance, and Roy and Riza have each other. So I asked you to hang out.”  
They sit in uncomfortable silence until Jean sighs.  
“Whatever. Let me tell you more about my imaginary girlfriend while we look at jewellery I pretend is for her when in reality I imagine Riza or Roy wearing it.”

\-------

After the jewellery store in which Jean sadly doesn’t find anything fitting for _Rebecca_ , they walk through a few other stores, and Jean visibly cheers up with every passing minute he can tease Shouto.  
It’s like hanging out with a weird but fun uncle, and Shouto really likes it. When he smiles after Jean pointed at a hideous dog sweater and said he should buy that for Kain, he knows the other isn’t manipulating him this time. He’s honestly happy.

So, when they pass a store with romantic gifts on display, and Shouto sees Jean’s smile waver, he barely hesitates before pointing at a different store that sells cosplay outfits.  
“You couldn’t pull off a Sailor Moon cosplay.”

It’s very random, but Jean immediately jumps at the challenge.  
“Hell yes I could! Wheel me in there, kid.”  
“I won’t help you try it on,” Shouto protests horrified.  
“You’re just scared I’ll prove you wrong!”  
Jean is laughing again, and Shouto smiles to himself as he pushes Jean a little faster towards a vending machine.  
“I want chocolate milk.”  
“So? Buy yourself some.”  
Shouto stops them in front of the machine and just looks at Jean who sighs dramatically.  
“Fine, I’ll be a good uncle and buy you chocolate milk.”

“Hey, Uncle,” a voice calls. “Since when are you calling yourself that?”  
Jean’s head spins around so quickly, Shouto is worried he might have broken his neck.  
“Ink! Hey!”

This Ink person is standing next to a teenager, who’s watching them with scrutinising eyes.  
“Who are these people?” he asks.  
“Jean Havoc and his nephew apparently.”  
“This is Shouto,” Jean says smiling. “And who are you, kid?”  
The boy doesn’t smile back.  
“That’s none of your business.”  
“Ohh, feisty. Interesting stray you picked up there, dude.”

Ink rolls their eyes.  
“What are you doing here anyways?”

Feeling the need to help Jean out more, Shouto takes a step forward so he’s next to him instead of behind the wheelchair.  
“He’s helping me find a Christmas gift for my boyfriend.”  
No need to make him tell his lie again and get sad.  
Jean grins up at him, gratitude in his eyes.  
“Exactly. What about you?”

Ink shrugs and then grins, showing sharp teeth.  
“Trying to buy an apology gift for Kain.”  
“What did you do now?” Jean asks with fond exasperation that tells Shouto that he’s not surprised at all, but also isn’t worried that they seriously offended or hurt Kain.  
They nod towards the kid.  
“Found Sing.”

The boy looks offended that they told them his name, but he doesn’t say anything, just keeps staring them down. Shouto wonders what his problem is.  
“Hey, how about we walk around together? I’ll buy you all something from the vending machine and then we go find gifts.” Jean grins up at Ink, who shrugs again.  
“Why not?”  
Sing glares some more, but when Ink asks him what he wants to drink, he crosses his arms.  
“Coffee.”  
“Aren’t you a bit young for that?” Jean teases, and the boy looks ready to physically fight him. Then, an intense calm falls over all of them. Both Ink and Shouto simultaneously look at Jean, but Sing just blinks, seeming confused.  
“Jean,” Ink warns and the feeling stops.  
“Fine, don’t let me help.”

He hands everyone their drink and then Shouto pushes him again, with one hand and one elbow so he can drink his chocolate milk, and the group moves through the crowd together.

\-------

They wander around for a while, Shouto pretty lost because this had not been the plan, he didn’t even want to get Izuku a Christmas gift because he doesn’t know if Izuku wants one or will get him one too.  
But Jean is trying to be really helpful in exchange for Shouto giving him a better excuse in front of his friend.  
So, eventually he just buys him a book about the most famous heroes, and hopes Izuku doesn’t own it yet.  
Ink doesn’t seem to be doing much better, trying to find a gift, and they eventually just grab a teddy bear that’s wearing a white shirt that says the names Jessica and Max separated by a red heart.

Jean bursts into laughter when Ink starts walking towards the checkout with it, and Shouto can’t help the giggles escaping him because Jean is projecting his emotions unconsciously. Sing who looked torn between following Ink and staying with them just moments before is also grinning, trying to hide it behind a hand.

“Your name isn’t Jessica or Max,” Shouto says when Ink is back with them. They grin at him, showing teeth.  
“No. But I finally have a gift and we can leave.”

They grab the handles of Jean’s wheelchair before Shouto can, and start walking down the mall with brisk steps. Shouto looks over at Sing, who’s looking back at him.  
After a moment, Shouto shrugs, and then they both follow them quickly.

“They have a weird take on relationships,” Shouto points out as they’re walking. Sing makes an affirmative noise. They don’t talk more, but Shouto still thinks he maybe made something almost like a friend today. He’s not good at making friends, so he can’t wait to tell Izuku about this. He can already hear his proud voice saying he did a good job befriending someone new.

They leave the mall and separate again pretty quickly. Shouto looks after Sing and Ink, thinking that he likes them both. They seem interesting.  
Jean taps his arm.  
“Hey, kid, thanks for earlier. Ink would’ve totally known I’m lying. I owe you.”  
Shouto’s lips quirk upwards.  
“You do.”  
“Well, now I’m scared!”

They walk back to Riza and Roy’s building in comfortable silence, and Jean insists on giving Shouto a hug before he walks into the building and takes the elevator upstairs to the apartment. He had a good time today.

\-------

The 24th is a couple days later, and there’s a party. It’s not big, but big enough. There’s Jean, and Kain, who brings Ink and Sing. And then there’s a woman who introduces herself as Maddie, and her boyfriend Kira.  
Shouto isn’t too thrilled about spending Christmas with so many people he doesn’t know, but at least he can look forward to tomorrow. He and Izuku will spend the entire day together.  
So, he makes it through dinner, and then moves to the balcony, sitting on the cushioned bench.  
When someone joins him, he thinks it’s Riza checking on him if he’s okay, or maybe Roy, so it surprises him when the person flopping down next to him is Sing.  
“A lot of people, huh?” Sing starts, and Shouto looks at him.  
“You’re talking to me.”  
The other frowns.  
“Yes?”  
Shouto looks at his hands and smiles a little. They are friends, aren’t they?  
“You’re weird. But I kind of like it.”  
“You’re weird too.” Shouto looks back up. “You were glaring at me the whole time when we first met.”  
“Well, I wanted to be prepared in case you try to kill me.”  
“I wouldn’t try to kill you.”  
“You never know!”  
“Considering my father almost killed me on multiple occasions, I understand you.”

They sit in silence, wind blowing some snow into their faces. Shouto shivers. He’s only wearing a turtleneck, he should have grabbed a jacket.

“I lived alone on the streets until Ink found me and took me in.”

Shouto leans back on the bench, looking out at the city. They’re bonding. This is… nice.

“Do you want to eat cake?” Shouto asks and gets up.  
“Okay.”  
“I’ll bring it here.”

He returns a few minutes later, carrying two plates of cake and a blanket under his arm. Sing is shivering, so he doesn’t complain when Shouto sits closer to him this time and spreads the blanket over both their laps. Then they eat cake in silence.

“Sorry about your father being shitty.”  
“He’s dead now.”  
“Sorry about that too.”  
“I don’t really mind it all that much. I’m sorry about you living on the streets.”  
“Thanks.”

Shouto leans his head back again and looks at the sky. He wishes he could see the stars, but the city is too bright for it.  
Sing nudges him with his elbow.  
“Do you like animals?”  
“I like cats.”  
“You should see our cats some time.”  
“Alright.”

The silence after that is starting to become uncomfortable, but Sing breaks it by telling Shouto about the cats, and then the ugly shit at their place because Ink apparently buys awful gifts for every occasion that requires a gift.  
Shouto listens, smiling a bit.

He made a new friend, and this Christmas Party isn’t too bad all of a sudden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know how to add it to the story that Natsuo never tells anyone, so I decided to just tell you like this. It's better for everyone if Dabi's secret died with him. Sure, some people probably kinda know since Natsuo yelled his name when he saw him burn, but then again everyone was kinda too busy to really think about it and connect the dots. So only a few people know, probably just Natsuo and Takami and maybe some of the rest of the League.
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter on what happens to Shouto! Also, I like his mum okay, I know Enji drove her to hurt Shouto, but I still think he'd feel subconsciously uncomfortable around her if she started living with them again. He has trauma, okay?
> 
> To the person who asked if Aizawa adopts Shouto now that Enji is dead: I'm sorry he didn't, but I promise Riza and Roy are the best parents Shouto could hope for
> 
> PS: BEFORE THE CHRISTMAS PARTY STARTS is where Lee's oneshot "Encounter x Jacket x Snow" is set, the one linked at the bottom of every chapter! So read that if you want, you don't even need to know Banana Fish to read it, it's just really precious and super well written!


	57. Chapter 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas with the Greedzawa family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of past death, suicidal thoughts, implied/mentioned (past) child abuse, mention of claustrophobia, cursing  
> Manga Spoilers: Oboro Shirakumo
> 
> chapter tags: Christmas fluff, family fluff, grieving, emotional hurt/comfort, Banana Fish character cameo (no spoilers), apparently not everyone has the hc that Katsuki is an introvert but i do, Greed is a good dad and so is Shouta
> 
> (dialogue in italics means it's being signed, so Mic's dialogue is all sign language)
> 
> one last chapter. here we go ❤️

Greed starts planning for Christmas a few weeks in advance since it’s their first proper Christmas as a family after the last one was so awful two days after the commission fight, and they didn’t celebrate that or New Year at all.  
Christmas isn’t a big family thing in Japan, but Greed thinks they all kind of need it, so he takes inspiration from the Western World and wants to make it a family celebration this year.

Both Envy and Tomura are quiet, quieter than usual, during the time leading up to Christmas. December 22nd is after all the anniversary of Dabi’s death.  
Shouta drives them to meet the rest of the former League so they can spend the day together. Greed offers to come along for Envy, but he yells at him to leave him the fuck alone, so Greed stays at home, burying himself in more planning to ignore how much it hurts that his brother is still angry with him after all this time.

Shouta comes back a little while later and hugs Greed from behind where he’s standing in the kitchen, brooding over a cookbook.  
“He’s grieving, he didn’t mean it,” he whispers in Greed’s ear, who sighs and leans into the embrace.  
“Did he tell you that?”  
“Tomura did.”  
“Hm…”  
“Did you ever talk to Envy?”  
“I tried… He blocked every single attempt.”

They stand in silence, the radio playing quiet Christmas music in the background.  
“I’ll talk to him on Christmas. For real this time. It’s long overdue. And on Christmas he can’t be too mean to me without feeling guilty about ruining the day for everyone, so he’ll have to hear me out at least.”  
“Don’t be too pushy, okay?”  
“Yeah yeah…”

Greed turns in Shouta’s arms so they’re looking at each other.  
“Was the kid there too?”  
“Takami? Yes.”  
“How did he look?”  
“Better… But not great.”  
“Obviously.” Gently, Greed pushes some hair out of Shouta’s face. “What about…”

Shouta knows who he’s talking about, and his eyes gloss over a bit, looking distant. Greed waits.  
“I talked to him briefly. He regained a lot of memories over the past year.”  
“Does he remember you?”  
Fingers grip Greed’s sweater at his sides and hold on tightly.  
“Partly. He asked me if I still dance.”  
Not sure how else to help, Greed pulls Shouta to his chest and leans his head on Shouta’s shoulder.  
“Are you hoping he’ll get all memories back? Do you want to go back to him?”  
Greed is being incredibly selfish asking this, he knows. But he has to know.  
“No… I had a lot of time to get over him, and I don’t want to go back to him. The Oboro I knew won’t come back. He may not be dead, but he still changed, and so did I.”

Relief fills Greed, and he’s ashamed of it. They stay there in the kitchen, holding each other, until there’s footsteps and Hitoshi sticks his head into the kitchen.  
“Am I interrupting anything?”  
Shouta clears his throat and takes a step back from Greed. His eyes are suspiciously red, and Hitoshi frowns, but neither of them says anything about it.  
“No, what’s wrong?” Shouta asks.  
“Well, Greed asked us to put some more fairy lights up in the living room and Denki kind of got themself completely tangled in them and Ling too when he tried to help them. Neito and Katsuki are busy laughing, and refuse to help, and Eri ate all the cookies you put on the table.”

Greed expects himself to get worried about Christmas not being perfect, but then he starts laughing. A loud, honest laugh, that rips out of his mouth and can’t be stopped.  
Both Hitoshi and Shouta stare at him, and Greed wonders if they ever heard him laugh so freely and happily, completely without snark or sarcasm, just genuine happiness.  
He presses a hand to his mouth, trying to keep it in, but the giggles won’t stop, and he just pulls both Hitoshi and Shouta into a hug. The kid bristles like an annoyed cat and wriggles free of the embrace.

“Whatever, just come help when you’re done laughing.”

Greed presses his face into the crook of Shouta’s neck as his giggles slowly get less.  
“You okay?” Shouta asks quietly, but there’s a smile in his voice too.  
“Yes. I know life is far from perfect, there’s still shit going on, but… We’re alive, we’re a family, and we’re spending Christmas together.”  
“I see you’re in a sappy mood.”  
“Definitely. Now let’s go save our kids.”

_Our kids._

The giggles start back up when Greed sees Denki and Ling hopelessly tangled in a heap on the floor, and he feels warm while he kneels next to them and slowly untangles them.

A real family.

\----------

On December 24th, they have breakfast together (something that doesn't happen a lot since everyone gets up at different times, but today Greed is insisting on it).  
Eri looks excited, the older kids seem to be in a good mood, Tomura too. Only Envy looks kind of absent the entire time, and glares at Greed when their eyes meet, rather half-heartedly however.

Shouta holds Greed's hand under the table and squeezes it gently. Greed is glad he's here next to him because Envy's mood is starting to affect him too. 

“When do we open gifts?” Eri asks, bouncing on her chair excitedly. The girl really changed a lot over the past year. She's way more open and confident and carefree. Greed is glad. He loves the little princess with all his heart, and he wants to see her smile forever.  
“I was thinking tomorrow morning, like in the US,” Greed replies and she pushes out her bottom lip in a pout.  
“Denki said in Europe they open them today, in the evening.”  
“Oh, did Denki say that now? Did Denki also tell you that here Christmas isn't really celebrated as much as in Europe and the US?” 

Denki rubs their neck and grins a bit.  
“I was just telling her, I didn't want to stir things up.”  
Greed rolls his eyes, grinning a bit.  
“Yeah, sure, kid. We open gifts tomorrow morning, end of discussion. Today we spend the day together and have a nice Christmas dinner in the evening.”  
“Do we all have to attend?” Envy drawls, and Greed grits his teeth.  
“Yes, Envy. And I want you to behave. We'll have guests.” 

Katsuki frowns.  
“Who?”  
“Mic, Ed, and two surprise guests. I'll tell you later.”  
“Why does Kat get to know but we don't?” Eri asks, confused.  
Greed smiles at her.  
“Because Katsuki doesn't like meeting new people, remember? So I tell him who it'll be so he can prepare for it.”  
“Because he's innovated?”  
Hiding a little laugh behind a cough, he nods.  
“Introverted, yes.”  
“Okay.” Eri turns back to her breakfast.

Greed looks over at Shouta and smiles at him. There's quiet Christmas music playing in the background, and the singer sings about only needing one thing for Christmas and that thing being a person. It's really fucking cheesy, but Greed can relate. Shouta smiles back at him, then they get interrupted by Ling and Neito making loud gagging noises. 

Snorting, Greed puts a hand over Eri's eyes and pulls his other out of Shouta's grip to flip the two off.  
“Be nice or Eri gets your presents too.”  
He drops the hand and takes his other one away from her face. She grins at him.  
“Did you make a rude hand motion again?”  
“I did, don't tell your daddy.” He winks and she chuckles.  
“But he's sitting right there, silly, he saw.”  
Greed gasps and slaps a hand to his chest.  
“Shouta, you saw?”  
The other man looks at him with a fond but tired look.  
“You're unbelievable.”

Greed leans over to him and kisses his cheek with a smile.

“I see, holidays make you two really sappy and annoying,” Hitoshi deadpans and sips his coffee.  
“If you don't want me to put you on cleaning duty tomorrow I suggest you stop making faces at your dad and me being happy,” Greed says, trying to sound stern, but kind of failing. He's really just happy today.  
Well, mostly. If it weren't for Envy looking upset the whole time.

But Greed can't do anything about that yet. He'll talk to Envy later.

\----------

After breakfast they do the dishes together and then move to the living room.  
“Alright, what did you plan for the family day, _mom_?” Tomura asks and crosses his arms.  
Greed claps his hands.  
“I was thinking we first sing together, then tell each other what we're grateful for and then hug.”

He smiles exaggeratedly and looks around at the frowns he gets in reply. Shouta is clearly trying to look grumpy too, but he knows that this is bullshit and what the real plans are. 

“I'm joking,” he finally says, and Denki chuckles.  
“I thought Katsuki had a heart attack with how still he went at the prospect of having to hug everyone in the room.”  
“What do we do then?” Eri asks and looks up at him.  
Greed holds out his arms to her and she steps forward, allowing him to pick her up.  
He spins, holding her and she giggles and grabs onto his arms. 

“I thought we could go outside to get some fresh air and then just watch a Christmas movie.” He stops spinning them. Eri is studying him.  
“And drink hot chocolate?”  
“If the princess wants that.”  
“With mini marshmallows?”  
Greed nods seriously.  
“Definitely with mini marshmallows.”  
“And can we eat the cookies?”  
“And we can eat the cookies.”

The girl taps her chin and then nods with a wide smile. 

“I like that. Can we have a snowball fight outside?”  
Greed shrugs and sets her back down.  
“Sure, if I get to team up with your daddy.”  
“I wanna team up with 'Toshi and Tomura!”  
Eri runs to Hitoshi and grabs his hand, then she pulls him along to Tomura and holds her hand to him.  
Tomura takes it carefully, holding it like he's afraid to hurt her despite the gloves he's wearing preventing that.

Somewhere along the way Eri had started to become really fond of Tomura, maybe because they share hair and eye colour, maybe she felt that Tomura was as lonely and sad as a child as she was before being rescued.  
Whatever the reason, Greed is glad they get along, even if it worried him at first. 

“Fine, I wanna team up with Ling and Denki,” Katsuki decides.  
Greed grins at Neito.  
“Guess you're on team dad.”  
Neito's face says he'd rather be on any other team.  
“Don't call it that, you're being embarrassing.”  
With a grin, Greed shrugs.  
“I always wanted to be an embarrassing dad.”

Neito groans and Katsuki snorts. Before they can start arguing though, Greed claps his hands again.  
“Everybody go grab their coat. Don't forget a scarf and gloves. And a hat.”  
He follows Eri to the coat rack and helps her close the buttons on her red coat. Then he pulls her hat with the cat ears over her head and pokes her nose.  
“Little kitty.”  
She giggles and puts on her gloves and shoes. Shouta is ready with the scarf when she's done. 

“She's old enough to put on a coat on her own, isn't she?” Katsuki grumbles. Greed raises an eyebrow.  
“Are you jealous?”  
“What?! No!”

Greed grins and walks over to him, grabbing his scarf from his hands.  
“Come on, little Katsuki, I'll wrap your scarf for you.”  
“No, you'll do it too tight!”  
Understanding his concerns, but still kind of hurt because Katsuki thinks he'd forget about his claustrophobia and that it applies to things being around his throat, Greed carefully wraps the scarf around Katsuki's neck for him, making it as loose as possible. 

When he steps back and raises an eyebrow, Katsuki shrugs.  
“Fine, you did it okay.”  
Greed smirks, proud of himself, then they all go outside.

\----------

In the garden, they start a snowball fight, Tomura and Aizawa only half-heartedly engaging in it for Eri, Envy leaning against the fence, not participating at all.  
Greed leaves him alone for a few minutes, then he throws a snowball at him and hits him in the face.  
His baby brother glares at him and picks up snow. Greed feels that he used his quirk when it hits him in the eye, and he can see - with the other eye while red lightning sparks around the injured one - that he got really pale and still. He’s still on a quirk ban, and if anyone finds out he just used it, he could get in trouble. But the others are too distracted with throwing snow at each other to have noticed anything, so Greed just smiles at his little brother and makes a zipping motion with his fingers in front of his lips.  
Envy’s shoulders slump in obvious relief, and Greed picks up more snow for another snowball that he throws at Envy again.  
He dodges it and frowns, then he throws one back, without quirk. Grinning, Greed runs towards him and grabs his arms, kicking his legs out from underneath him so they both land in the snow and he can shove some down Envy’s jacket.

His little brother squeals and shrieks, squirming in his hold to get away.  
Greed worries a little that he’s going too far by holding him down like this, that it feels too much like fighting, but then he catches a glimpse of Envy’s face and the big smile there, and he relaxes. Which is a mistake because Envy kicks him back and then Greed has a face full of snow, while he hears Envy laughing at him. It tugs at his heart strings to hear him laugh freely like that for probably the first time ever, so after he manages to wipe the snow from his eyes, he moves forward and pulls Envy into a hug.

The other stiffens, then hugs him back tightly.  
“I couldn’t let you die. I love you. Please don’t hate me for it,” he whispers. Envy is shaking a little, and Greed isn’t sure if it’s from the cold or emotions, but it doesn’t matter.  
Because Envy keeps holding on to him, and then whispers:  
“I don’t hate you. I’m sorry I was so mean… I just… I miss him.”  
Greed runs a hand over his back as they sit in the snow, cold wetness seeping through their clothes, the laughter and voices of the others seeming far away.

Finally, Greed pulls back and pretends not to see how red Envy’s eyes are. He gets up and helps Envy to his feet too.  
“We’ll already go back inside and prepare hot chocolate for everyone,” he announces, taking in the scene in front of him.

Denki and Katsuki are making out by the fence, Ling and Monoma are hiding behind a tree from Hitoshi who has a whole stack of snowballs ready in front of him on the grass, Eri and Shouta are making snow angels a few feet away, and Tomura is sitting in the grass, building a tiny snowman with an absent, relaxed expression on his face.

Nobody seems to even hear him, so Greed just shrugs and walks to the back door with Envy, back into the house. They take off their shoes and wet jackets, hanging them in the bathroom to dry.  
After changing into dry clothes, they meet back up in the kitchen, and Envy sits on the counter while Greed moves around him, grabbing milk and chocolate.  
“Don’t you usually use cocoa powder?”  
“Yes, but it tastes better with melted chocolate.”  
“Premium hot chocolate by Greed, huh?”  
Greed grins at him and starts breaking the chocolate bars into small pieces.

Envy leans over to where the little radio is standing on the counter and turns it on. Christmas music starts playing, and Greed hums along quietly.  
“I guess I just… Was convinced I’d never fully be happy, even if the League helped me get really close to it…”  
Greed doesn’t look in Envy’s direction, just focuses on the task at hand, letting the other talk.  
“So when I thought I was dying, I was super relieved. Sure, I was sad ‘cause of the people I was leaving behind, but… I thought I’d find peace. I’d escape the pain and the nightmares.”

It hurts to hear that, but Greed understands. He pours milk into a pot and then adds the chopped up chocolate.

“And then… Dabi-”  
Envy’s voice breaks, and Greed grabs a wooden spoon and puts the pot on the heating stove.  
As he starts stirring, he reaches over to his brother and grabs his hand, still cold from the snow, and squeezes it tightly in support.  
“And I thought if I had just died back then, I’d still be with him,” Envy whispers, and Greed closes his eyes briefly before stirring stoically, eyes focused on the milk that’s slowly turning a light brown colour. He absolutely hates hearing this, hates how much Envy is hurting because of the loss.

“You know,” Greed starts after Envy is quiet long enough to signal that he won’t add anything else. “I didn’t know him, but you seem to have really liked him, so I know he’d want you to smile and have a long and happy life.”  
“Probably…”  
“See? So show me a smile, for Dabi.”  
Greed looks over at Envy, who sighs and then smiles weakly. It’s a start. And he did laugh honestly earlier after all.  
“I’m glad you don’t hate me.”  
“I never did. I just let my pain out on you…”  
He suspected something like this, but hearing it is still calming. Envy never hated him.

“You want to make up for it? Then go grab ten mugs from the cupboard and tell the others to come inside before they all catch a cold.”  
Envy huffs but hops off the counter, separating their hands.  
“Fine, but I want the Peter Pan mug.”  
With a smile, Greed looks back at the pot that’s steaming already.  
“Sure, you can have it.”

Envy puts the mugs on the counter where he’d been sitting and then leaves to the backdoor.  
Shutting off the stove, Greed looks towards the window. It’s starting to snow, so it’s good timing.  
His eyes move to Ariel sleeping in her bed on the windowsill and he smiles. Cloud is probably sleeping somewhere too. None of them really wants to go outside in this cold, and he can’t blame them.

He’s interrupted by voices and shuffling at the door.  
“Put your wet jackets in the bathroom and put on dry clothes!” he calls over to them.  
The reply is a chorus of “Yes, _dad_!” and he has to hide his cheesy smile behind his hand.

The first person to join him in the kitchen is Eri, meaning Shouta probably helped her put on new clothes. He picks her up, holding her in front of himself and gives her a kiss on the cheek.  
“Hey, princess, your face is really cold.”  
“I know.” She pouts and presses her hands to her cheeks. Greed chuckles and puts her down.  
“Guess we’ll have to snuggle up on the couch for the movie so we warm you up. Go save us a spot already.”  
Eri nods grinning and then dashes off to the living room, probably to save them the corner spot of the couch which is the most comfortable because you can have your legs up and outstretched.

Shouta walks through the kitchen door after Eri left, an amused smile on his lips.  
“Did you send our daughter to save your favourite couch spot again?”  
With his best innocent look, Greed shrugs.  
“I don’t know what you mean.”  
He opens his arms, and Shouta steps into the embrace.  
“You didn’t correct me,” he mumbles, leaning his head against Greed’s shoulder.  
“Well, she is our daughter after all, isn’t she,” he replies, just as quietly, and holds Shouta close.  
“She is.”

They don’t dance to the music, they just stand there, holding each other until the first kids join them and complain about their PDA.

\----------

They watch two Christmas movies, pausing it a lot to discuss what’s realistic and what isn’t, and how stupid some scenes are. Overall, Greed really enjoyed just hanging out with his family. Especially because he and Shouta had snuggled up with Eri under a blanket on his favourite spot on the couch, the rest of the kids spread over the rest of the couch and the armchair.  
He’s really feeling the happy cheesy Christmas mood, even more so now that he and Envy kind of talked and the other doesn’t send him angry glares every five minutes anymore. He still looks absent and sad a lot, but that’s to be expected. Talking about it doesn’t make the pain go away.

In the late afternoon, they tidy up the living room and Greed starts setting the table while the others help by getting the food they prepared from the fridge and the balcony.  
Denki is grinning as they place the Christmas cake on the table. Satou made it for them last minute after Ling and Denki almost set the kitchen on fire trying to bake some. Denki had texted Satou then and the sweet boy had just whipped up a perfect cake for them in a matter of a day.

Their guests arrive at six. Ed is the first one who shows up, and he and Ling vanish in Ling and Katsuki’s room, probably making out again. Mic arrives next, with Natsuo Todoroki. Greed got Shouto Todoroki’s phone number from Denki, and Natsuo’s number from him to invite him secretly.  
Tomura seems really surprised, like he honestly didn’t expect him to show up. Natsuo smiles.  
“Hey.”  
“I thought you’d spend Christmas with your family.”  
“Shouto is with Mustang, and I wasn’t feeling like going to Paris to spend it with mom and Fuyumi.”  
“But who…”  
“I invited him. I thought you’d like to spend Christmas with him,” Greed speaks up and holds his hand out to Todoroki.  
“Thanks for coming and bringing Mic.”  
Todoroki shakes his hand.  
“No problem, thanks for the invitation.”

Greed then leaves Todoroki and Tomura to talking and gives Mic a hug.  
“Merry Christmas, dumbass.”  
He leans back to see their reply.  
_”Merry Christmas. Fuck you._ ”  
“Don’t let my daughter see you use such language or I’m burying you in the snow in the garden.”  
Mic grins and then starts signing an apology and a thanks, but Greed shakes his head.  
“I’ve told you before, you don’t need to apologise every time you’re here. The kids have forgiven you, Shouta has and I have too.”  
_”Thank you.”_

“That’s only one surprise guest,” Neito points out when they all sit in the kitchen, Ling and Ed too after their kissing break in Ling’s room.  
“The second one seems to be running a bit late,” Greed says and checks his phone. She hasn’t texted him since she arrived by train and insisted on walking to the house instead of having Shouta pick her up.  
Ed meets his eyes over the table and grins. He knows who it is because Greed needed his help with getting her phone number from Ling’s phone.

Before Greed can say anything though, the doorbell rings and he smiles.  
“Ah, the imaginary guest is here.”  
He looks at Ling who seems confused for a moment, then he jumps up.  
“Lan-Fan!”  
And with that, Ling dashes off to the front door, and Greed leans back pleased. The kid apparently remembers how Greed used to joke about Lan-Fan not existing and being an imaginary friend and cousin.

When he comes back to the kitchen a minute later, a girl is following him with black hair falling over her shoulders and a small suitcase in her hand.  
“Merry Christmas, Ling. I thought you might want to have some blood related family here too today.”  
“I love you, Greed, you’re amazing.”  
Ling throws his arms around him and hugs him enthusiastically. Greed chuckles and hugs him back, patting his back.  
“Alright, now that everyone’s here, let’s get the introductions over with and then eat.”

\----------

After dinner, they clean the table together and Greed and Shouta make tea for everybody.  
Katsuki is signing with Mic, talking about something pro-hero related as far as Greed can see. Denki and Neito are throwing Christmas cookies at each other, trying to catch them with their mouth, Eri is sitting on Tomura’s lap, showing him and Todoroki her newest drawing.  
Ling, Ed and Lan-Fan are chatting, probably catching up even though according to Ed, Ling regularly talks to her on the phone.  
Shinsou is sitting on the floor with Cloud, petting him, and Envy- Envy isn’t there anymore.

Greed tenses, and Shouta notices.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Did you see where Envy went?”  
“No. Maybe to his room?”  
Worry filling him, Greed puts the tea kettle down.  
“Can you-”  
“I got this, go look for him.”  
“Thanks, you’re the best.”

Not waiting any longer, Greed hurries out of the kitchen and down the hall, checking Envy’s and Tomura’s room, and when he’s not there the other bedrooms and the bathroom upstairs and downstairs.  
He notices that Envy’s jacket is gone from the bathroom where it’s been drying, so Greed grabs his own and a scarf and walks out the backdoor. He almost stumbles over Envy who’s sitting there on the steps in front of the door, reminding Greed of himself all those months ago at the UA dorms.  
He sighs and sits down next to him.  
“Are you okay?”  
“No.”  
“That’s okay, nobody expects you to be.”  
Envy sniffles and rubs his eyes, and Greed holds his arm up a bit in an invitation. His brother hesitates, then shifts closer and leans against him, letting Greed wrap his arm around him.  
“I miss him so much, Greed,” Envy whispers, voice breaking towards the end. “I just want him back.”  
Unsure what to say, Greed just holds him as Envy breaks and starts sobbing.  
“I was a little bit in love with him,” he manages between two sobs, and it breaks Greed’s heart. He can’t say he’s surprised.  
They sit in silence in the dark, the only noises the occasional car passing by, and the distant sound of laughter and voices coming from inside the house.

Greed holds Envy, feeling useless because he doesn’t know what to say. He can’t say he understands because he luckily never lost someone he loves. He can’t say it will be okay because right now saying that would just sound like he’s dismissing Envy’s pain, and be cruel. He’s struggling silently as his brother’s crying tugs at his heart.  
When he quiets down, Greed finally speaks up.  
“I don’t understand what you’re feeling right now so I won’t pretend like I do. It sounds like it fucking hurts though, and I understand pain. So… I really don’t fucking know what to say, but I’m here for you. I’m so sorry for ever letting you down, I won’t ever do it again.”

Envy hiccups and buries his face at Greed’s shoulder, so Greed moves until he’s kneeling in front of him and can hug him properly.  
“I’m still mad at you. I don’t want to be. But I am. Because I’m here… He told me he’d never leave me, and if he did, he’d take me with him…”  
“I understand. It’s okay,” he whispers. It does hurt, of course it does, but at least Envy doesn’t hate him.

“Do you talk to your therapist about Dabi?”  
“Sometimes… Not much.”  
“You should. Let her help you, okay? You can let all of us help you. We’re a family.”  
Envy sniffles and nods against him.  
“I’ll try. We’re not really used to opening up, huh?”  
Greed chuckles quietly.  
“No, we’re not. Took me a while to accept help. But you can do it too.”  
“If you could, I definitely can,” Envy mocks weakly, and Greed is glad to hear his teasing. He leans backwards and flicks his nose.  
“Respect your older brother.”  
“Never.”

\----------

Greed and Envy sit together looking out at the garden for a couple more minutes, then Greed clears his throat and gets up.  
“Okay… Is it okay if I leave you to your thoughts now?”  
“Yes, I’d like some alone time actually. Thanks.”  
With a sigh, Greed nods and looks at Envy again before walking back into the house.  
He finds everyone in the living room, listening to Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas - he learned some names of songs and singers by now. At least that’s what it seems to be, but Greed sees the expressions of Denki and Neito, and Ling watching them with a face begging them not to do something - Yes, Greed is suspicious now. And a moment later he realises what’s going on.  
The song is a remix, and instead of All I want for Christmas continuing, some song about a father taking his son to the city to see a marching band starts, and Denki and Neito start dancing around while Eri is confused for a moment before nodding her head to the music with a little smile.  
Not in the mood to deal with more of their memes, Greed walks past them and steps into the kitchen to Shouta who’s drinking a cup of coffee.

“Envy will be okay. Someday. But the kids are listening to weird music in the living room,” Greed complains and leans against the counter next to the other.  
“You never listened to My Chemical Romance?”  
“To your what?”

Shouta sips his coffee and then puts the cup onto the table and puts his hands on Greed’s shoulders.  
“I’ll let Mic educate you on music some day.”

Shrugging, Greed takes Shouta’s hands and kisses his knuckles first on the right, then the left hand.  
“Okay. Do you think that if I know more about music, maybe one day we could…”  
He swings their joined hands left and right lightly.  
A soft smile is on Shouta’s face when Greed looks at him, and he kisses him.  
“Yes. I think I’d like to try dancing with you some time. But only once you know all the words to my favourite song.”  
“What’s your favourite song?”  
Shouta grins at him and pecks him on the lips again.  
“You’ll have to figure that out yourself.”

Greed pouts, but Shouta just steps back from him with an amused expression.  
“Let’s get back to the others.”

But it’s so warm and kind of suffocating, and the living room is still rather noisy with the music and laughter and dancing noises, so Greed shakes his head lightly. He needs some fresh air, process the conversation he had with Envy, have some alone time.

“I’ll just go for a little walk. I’ll be back in a bit.”  
“Okay. Take your scarf, it’s cold.”

\----------

Outside he breathes in deeply. The snow crunches under his feet, and he smiles into his scarf. He’s… pretty happy, even after seeing Envy so sad broke his heart. It’s a bittersweet happiness. Because sure, there’s a lot of stuff they still have to deal with, mainly everyone’s trauma from… well, about everything that happened, but they’re doing fairly well, and the kids and him are going to therapy after all. It’s surprisingly helpful, actually.

He’s pulled from his thoughts when he almost runs into a boy, and for a second he thinks it’s Ling who came outside too because of how much the kid looks like him. But at a second glance, he sees the differences: this kid has a longer, thinner face, and even though they both have the same shade of black hair, Ling’s is a little shorter than this boy’s.  
And Ling would never go out into this weather with only a baseball jacket on, no coat, hat or scarf..

“I’m sorry,” he says, but he doesn’t get an answer, the kid just keeps walking quickly, arms wrapped around himself, shivering and hands looking slightly blue.  
Greed’s dad instincts scream at him, and he can’t ignore them.  
“Hey, wait a moment.”  
The boy just speeds up even more, so Greed follows him and grabs his arm. That has a rather violent reaction: the boy goes rigid and then rips his arm free and stumbles backwards, almost falling over his own feet on the slippery sidewalk.  
Okay, a traumatised child. (Or just one with common sense who's scared of a stranger in the dark, but Greed's dad senses are tingling.) Greed can deal with that. He hunches his shoulders and softens his face, hands held out in front of him, palms up.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says gently. “I promise. I won't touch you again. I’m Greed, I live in that house there.”  
He points over his shoulder, but the boy’s eyes never leave him.  
“You look cold, how about you come inside with me? My family is inside, we just finished dinner, there’s plenty left for you.”  
The defenses of the kid visibly rise.  
“You think I’m stupid, don’t you? I’m not just following a stranger into a house.”  
His voice is strong, but he can’t quite hide the quiver in it, likely from the cold.  
“You’ll freeze to death if you stay out here like this. That jacket doesn’t look very warm.”  
The kid crosses his arms over his chest. Greed sighs and crouches down. This should make him seem the least like a threat.

“Will you tell me your name?”  
No response.  
“Will you at least wait here while I go grab you a coat and a hot cup of tea?”  
Something he can’t quite identify flits over the kid’s face, but he just looks away.  
Very carefully so he doesn’t spook him, he gets back up and takes off his scarf. Dark eyes shoot back to him and watch his every move carefully. Greed takes a step towards the boy, then another, very slowly, holding the scarf loosely in his hands. When he’s close enough, he wraps it around the kid’s neck, careful to keep it light and to not accidentally touch him. Then he steps back again.  
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, I promise. Just wait here, okay?”  
This time he gets the barest hint of a nod and turns around, hurrying to the door.

“Yut Lung.”

He pauses and doesn’t turn.  
“Excuse me?”  
“My name.”  
Greed almost smiles.  
“Okay, Yut Lung. Just wait here, I’ll hurry up.”

With quick steps, Greed walks up to the front door. As he turns to shut it behind himself so the cold air doesn’t get inside, he sees Yut Lung clutch the scarf in both hands, staring at it.  
He’ll ask Ling to come outside with him, maybe he’ll trust someone his age more than an adult.

\----- -

To Greed’s surprise, the kid is still there when he and Ling walk towards the sidewalk by the house together. But he tenses up when he sees that Greed isn’t alone.  
“This is one of my kids, his name is Ling,” Greed says gently and stops a few metres away from Yut Lung, holding up the cup of tea. Ling is holding the coat.  
“I hope you like Green Tea.”  
“Here, you look like you’re freezing,” Ling says and moves forward. Yut Lung is clearly wary, but stays where he is.  
With a smile, Ling drapes the coat around him and then takes the mug from Greed and hands it to him.  
“You can trust him, don’t worry. He saved me from my abusive siblings, you know? Almost two years ago.”  
The kid perks up at that, and Greed’s stomach churns uncomfortably.  
“He did?” he asks, not looking at either of them. Instead, he’s staring at the tea as if he’s worried it’s poisoned.  
“Yes. And my new siblings had abusive parents. But with Greed we’re really happy. You shouldn’t have to spend Christmas alone in the cold. Won’t you come inside with us? Just for a bit. If you want to leave at any point, I’ll walk you out, promise.”

Yut Lung hesitates, then takes a tentative sip of the tea. Greed waits patiently. Ling has to do this. This boy doesn’t trust adults, that’s pretty obvious.  
“You won’t tell anyone, right? My brothers…”  
Ling grabs one of Yut Lung’s arms firmly and the kid looks at him startled.  
“You’re safe here. I swear.”

There’s such honesty in Ling’s voice, Yut Lung has to hear it too because he looks at Greed again. There’s fire in his eyes, like he’s trying to hide that he’s scared. Greed can deal with this.  
“Do you like Christmas cake?” Ling asks. “Me and my sibling Denki tried to make it by ourselves, but we kind of ruined the kitchen, so we asked one of the students of Greed's boyfriend to make some for us. He’s an incredible baker, you have to try it.”  
Yut Lung’s stomach growls, but neither Greed nor Ling acknowledge it. Instead, Ling just keeps telling the other boy about his siblings and Shouta’s kids, as well as the reformed criminals living with them and his boyfriend. He keeps his chatter up as they walk up the driveway to the front door, his hand still protectively on Yut Lung’s arm, but the kid doesn’t seem to mind it too much. His face looks less pinched by the time they step inside and take off shoes and coats, and Greed breathes out relieved. Bringing Ling along was a good choice.

 _“Another stray?”_ Mic signs at him as they enter the living room and Ling introduces Yut Lung to everyone but keeps himself between him and the others as a human shield to make him feel safer.  
Greed hides his smile behind his hand.

Yes. It seems like he picked up another stray.

\---------- -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. I love Yut-Lung so much, so after finishing Banana Fish my mind went: what if Greed adopted him. And then I told Lee about that and they said I should just go for it, so here we are
> 
> Well. That was the fanfic. It is the longest one I have ever written, and I'm honestly pretty proud of myself. ESPECIALLY considering this originally was supposed to be a crack chat fic and then it became... this  
> I'm so grateful all of you read this and encouraged me with your comments. Heck, Bitters even drew some sketches for this fic, and it's been forever since I got fanart for one of my fanfics 🥺  
> Half of what makes writing fanfic so fun is the interaction with the people who read it, and you all interacted so much with it, especially a handful of always the same people. I won't attempt to name them all because I just know I'd forget someone and make them sad, but trust me when I say that I got really happy whenever I got a notification for a new comment and it was a familiar name 🥰🥰
> 
> So... I don't want to drag this out for too long (I tend to do that because I get really sentimental), so I'll just say thank you.  
> Thank you to all of you for reading and liking this, thank you to Lee for helping me write it and giving me a hand whenever I needed one.
> 
> I hope you maybe check out my other fics, I have some stuff planned but idk yet when I'll get around to it. And please definitely check out Lee's stuff too (guardiansofthefantasy)
> 
> Alright. Have a wonderful day and Christmas, a happy New Year, stay healthy and safe, and may 2021 be better than 2020 ❤️
> 
> PS: Did anyone notice the system behind my dividers? It's a corny little detail I like to add to most of my fics where I use the --- as metaphors or symbols for what's happening, like in the end it's ten ---------- and then after one space one more -  
> The Greedzawa family is ten people, and Yut Lung is about to join them  
> Lee said it's super unnecessary and maybe it is, but I think it's fun to do!!  
> Feel free to check out past chapters to see the dividers evolve :D
> 
> PPS: I have some scenes I wanted to write for this story but they never quite fit in, so maybe if I get motivated I'll still write them and make this a series and just add them to the series, like for example how Edling started dating, or the dinner during which Greed and the kids surprised Mic with how they learned sign language for them, just some short little extra oneshots that didn't fit in the main story  
> so if there's maybe something else you'd like to see that I mentioned or hinted on but didn't explicitly write, feel free to let me know and I'll put it on the list and possibly write it some day 🥰

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Encounter x Jacket x Snow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27444073) by [guardiansofthefantasy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardiansofthefantasy/pseuds/guardiansofthefantasy)




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